Take on the World Together
by potterfamilyfanfiction
Summary: Snape, in an attempt to save Lily, created a potion that kept James and Lily alive when hit with the killing curse, but put them into a coma. When they wake up seven years later, they find themselves on a journey to fix what went wrong: to free Sirius from Azkaban, help Remus learn to live again, rescue their son from the Dursley's, and take on the world together, as a family.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

 **Warnings: This story will include child abuse and violence, so if either of these things are triggering to you, please proceed with caution.**

* * *

The potion was a dark purple color and had a foul stench. James scrunched his nose up as he looked down at the three small vials. He picked one up, gently turning it so that the thick liquid swished around in the glass. He could have sworn that there was clumps of… _something_ in it. He tapped the glass with the tip of his pale finger and abruptly sat it down.

"Are you _sure_ he isn't trying to poison us?" he asked Lily suddenly.

"Yes, love," Lily laughed. Her red hair was pulled back into a messy bun as she bounced a fussy Harry on her hip, "Dumbledore trusts him. Besides, we shouldn't have to even drink them. They're just precaution."

He gave a short nod and forced a tight smile on his face, "Yeah, of course. You're right, Lils. We'll be fine."

"Pa'foo'!" Harry whined out loudly. He squeezed his little fists tightly and squirmed in Lily's arms, "Pa'foo'!"

"Padfoot isn't here right now," James said, taking his son into his arms. He held out one finger, letting the small toddler grab onto it, "He had to go away. Remember?"

Harry shook his head stubbornly, "Pa'foo'!"

Lily smiled sadly and leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to the boy's forehead, brushing the mass of messy black hair out of the way, "You'll see him in a few days for his birthday. You can give him the card that you made him."

James snorted, eyes glancing briefly toward the bright red piece of paper laying sloppily on the coffee table. A mixture of colored scribbles covered the paper. Broken crayons lay beside it. At the very bottom of the paper, Lily had written in neat handwriting, "Happy Birthday, Padfoot!"

"Oh, don't be like that," Lily admonished him, a playful smile etched onto her face, "Harry worked very hard on it. Didn't you, Harry?"

He grinned but made no other response that would signify that he understood what Lily had said.

James bounced the boy on his hip, grinning down at the toddler, "I'm sure Sirius will love it."

Before he could react, there was a sudden rumbling, and the ground below him began to shake. He brought both arms out around Harry and planted his feet, as Lily grabbed onto the wall, a concerned look crossing her face, "Earthquake?"

A screeching siren filled the room. Harry screamed at the piercing sound, little hands covering his ears.

"The wards have fallen," James spoke his thoughts out loud, dread filling him.

"What?"

He pushed the screaming toddler into his wife's arms and quickly reached for the potions, "The wards have fallen! Peter- you have to go!"

He grabbed all three potions into his hand. Taking one for himself, he pushed the other two small vials into Lily's free hand, "Lily. It's him. Go! I'll hold him off!"

Lily knew better than to wait. Had she not been holding Harry, James knew that she wouldn't leave his side for a second. As it was, she had Harry, and she grabbed the potions and took off at a run up the stairs. Her beautiful red hair billowed out around her head as she tipped one vial back into her own mouth as she ran up the steps two at a time and threw the potion to the ground so that she wouldn't drop Harry's, and she was already trying to get Harry to drink it before she disappeared from his sight.

The house shook again, and then James could hear high-pitched laughter from outside. He pulled his wand out of his pocket with one hand and down the vile-tasting potion with the other, grimacing at the disgusting taste. It sent an odd, tingling sensation through his body.

The front door exploded, sending shrapnel towards him.

"Protego!" he shouted, blocking it before it could hit him. He closed his eyes for a moment, praying that Lily could get Harry to drink the potion or, better yet, that she could escape with him.

He held his wand out protectively, ready to cast a spell at a moment's notice.

"James Potter."

James had seen Voldemort many times before in the past, but never once had he felt such a feeling of dread fill him at the sight, the knowledge that his wife and son were still in the house haunting him. Voldemort was alone. His pale, slender body was covered in a black and green robe, and his red eyes connected with James' brown. Pressure against his shields had James turning his head slightly so that the knowledge of the potion couldn't be leaked to him.

"Where is the boy, Potter?" Voldemort asked, voice slithering into James' ears, "If you hand him over, I will spare you. I always hate spilling pure blood."

James flicked his wand silently, but Voldemort effortlessly blocked the curse.

"I never realized that you were so stupid, Voldie," James spat out, smirking at the man. His smirk fell quickly, however, and he glared, "I would never do that."

He shot off another curse silently, but Voldemort stepped to the side.

The man sighed as if in disappointment. He brought his wand up slowly and ran his slender hands over the elegant stick. James threw another spell that was blocked by the slightest twitch of the wood.

"I had hoped you would be smarter than this, Potter, but you Gryffindor's and your foolish recklessness is the reason why so many of you will die."

The killing curse came racing towards him, but he dove to the side and threw three silent curses in a row at the man, who dodged all of them and threw his own.

"Where's the boy, Potter?" he repeated.

The green light came racing towards him again and he dove behind the couch. The spell slammed into a picture on the wall, causing it to fall and break, glass flying everywhere. He waited only a moment before moving out from behind the couch, shooting off a trio of ugly purple curses at the man. Not even one hit its mark.

He dodged another spell, then levitated the chair and threw it at the man. A shield blocked it, and it flew into the wall, knocking off several more picture frames. James threw up a shield of his own to avoid the glass before he sent the glass flying towards the man.

Voldemort dodged most of the glass, but one small piece cut into his cheek, drawing a few drops of blood. The man paused in momentary surprised, bringing up one hand to his bleeding cheek, but he dodged the spell that James sent towards him in hopes of catching him off guard.

"Crucio!"

The spell hit its mark. James was unable to dodge it in time and fell to the ground screaming in excruciating pain. He tried to focus through the pain and keep a hold on his wand, but it was too much. His muscles spasmed as he writhed, and his hand lost its grip, sending his wand rolling away.

As the curse faded, so did his screaming, and as they faded, it became painfully obvious to him that someone else was screaming. A small but shrill screech echoed from up the stairs, and James cursed silently at the realization that it was Harry.

"Ah," Voldemort spoke in satisfaction, a sick smirk on his face, "The boy is upstairs. He will be joining you soon. Avada Kedavra."

James saw the green spell racing towards him. Before it hit its mark, his entire body suddenly felt cold, and everything abruptly went dark.

* * *

He woke up in a bed. He came to slowly, his mind pushing past a fog, and he blinked blearily, slowly moving a stiff arm to rub his eyes. He was warm. Cozy cloth pressed up against his skin, and he let out a small sigh at the soft nature of the bed that he was on.

He realized after a moment that his mouth was dry, and he could taste cotton. The air in the room smelled clean and crisp. He could hear footsteps not too far away, and the soft sound of someone snoring nearby. He opened his eyes and found himself staring up at a white, blank ceiling.

It took him a moment to turn his head to the side but when he did, he found himself staring at Remus Lupin. The man seemed to have aged twenty years since the last time he had seen him. He was slumped in a chair nearby, head leaned back and softly snoring. His hair was graying, and his robes were shabby and torn. His skin was much more scarred than before, and he had lost several pounds. A newspaper lay draped across his lap, as if he had fallen asleep while reading it.

He blinked, eyebrows furrowed, and coughed softly, "Remus?"

The man jerked awake at the sound. His amber eyes snapped open and he flung forward in his seat, a strangled shout leaving his lips. He stared at James, and blinked several times, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Remus?" James repeated. Slowly, he tried to sit up, but found that his arms were too weak, "Remus, what happened? Where am I? Where's Harry? And Lily?"

Remus didn't answer immediately. Instead, he stared, mouth falling open. His body was tense and there was something in his eyes that James didn't recognize. Then, without a word, he fled from the room. The newspaper that had been in his lap drifted down to the ground.

James' eyes caught the front-page headline: THE WIZARDING WORLD CELEBRATES THE SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY OF YOU-KNOW-WHO'S DEMISE.

* * *

 **Author's Note: I hope you guys enjoyed this prologue! I know that the whole James and Lily survive thing has been done a hundred times, but it hasn't been done enough in my opinion, so here we are. Time for Harry to get his family back!**

 **I decided to focus on James in the prologue, but later chapters will focus on a more variety of characters. At the moment, this story will focus on James, Lily, Harry, Sirius, and Remus, though other characters will pop in and become important later on.**

 **Next chapter, we will learn more about what actually happened that night, and what has happened since.**

 **I'd love to hear what you guys think about it, and any advice you have, do don't forget to review!**


	2. Chapter 2

The last thing that Lily Potter remembered was standing in front of her baby, pleading with Voldemort to spare her son, praying that her son would be spared. Her son, her stubborn, stubborn toddler, who refused to drink the foul-smelling potion, sat wailing behind her, and Lily did not want to live while her son died. She stood in front of him, not caring if the potion worked, only knowing that she needed to protect her baby, and at least hold Voldemort off long enough for the Order of the Phoenix to arrive.

They didn't.

When the spell raced towards her, she prayed that the potion didn't work, and that she didn't have to open her eyes to a world without her baby.

But she did.

Her eyes fluttered open slowly, and she could hear several people rummaging around in the room, all shouting and talking frantically. Her head turned slowly, and she could see several Healers surrounding a nearby bed.

A moan left her mouth involuntarily and she squeezed her eyes closed, "No. Harry."

Her voice sounded the alarm, and a group of Healers were suddenly surrounding her bed, "You're awake as well?"

"Mrs. Potter, what do you remember?"

"How do you feel?"

"Any pain?"

"Can you move?"

She shook her head and pushed at the hands that grabbed onto her. A blur of faces and a cacophony of voices surrounded her, "No! No! Harry!"

"Mrs. Potter, please calm down."

"No! No. NO. NO. Where's Harry? WHERE'S MY BABY?"

"Lily!" Her head snapped to the side. She could see James, dressed in white pajamas, pushing past Healers to get to her, "Lily! Hey, it's okay."

He pushed past, climbing onto the bed with her and placing his hands on either side of her face. She stared into his brown eyes, tears springing up in her green ones, and grabbed onto his forearms.

"James, where's Harry?" She choked out, "I couldn't get him to take the potion. I tried. James, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. My baby. My baby boy."

A Healer spoke up, just loud enough to be heard over her hysterics, "Mrs. Potter. Your son is fine. He's alive. We need you to calm down, though. I promise you that your son is okay."

She fell her silent. Her mouth snapped closed and she turned quickly to the Healer. The woman's dark eyes surveyed her curiously yet warily, "Where is he?"

James seemed to sigh in relief beside her, "He's probably with Sirius, Lils."

Right. Sirius. He would have raced to them to moment he found out, and he undoubtedly would be watching Harry while waiting for them to wake up. She hoped that Dumbledore had told him about the potion.

"I can assure you that he is not with Black," The Healer spat suddenly, eyes darkening, "He is somewhere safe."

Her response through Lily off guard, but she couldn't focus on that yet, "Then where is he?"

"I-I can't tell you that. His location is classified. I don't know, but we will send for Professor Dumbledore immediately. I just need you to calm down, so we can perform some tests. You two have been asleep for a long time."

She blinked and reached her hand out, grasping her husband's tightly, "What do you mean? The potion was only supposed to last twenty-four hours."

The Healer shifted lightly on her feet, head tilting in a bit of surprise, "Professor Dumbledore mentioned that, yes. However, if you remember correctly, the potion was not tested before you took it," she said in light disapproval, "It did as it was expected to at first. The potion inside of you detected the spell, and it put you into a stasis just before the killing curse hit you so that the curse believed that you were already dead. However, when your body began to work again after the potion wore off, you did not wake up. We tried everything we could think of to get you two to wake up, but to no avail. The potion seems to have put you two into a magical coma."

They were quiet for a moment. When taking the potion, they had both known that there was a possibility that it would not work, but the possibilities had always been limited to them surviving or dying. They had never imagined that anything else would happen.

"How long has it been?" James asked, squeezing Lily's hand in reassurance. She glanced over at him, noticing for the first time that his hair was longer than before, though it looked to be upkept, and his body was slimmer. His muscle that he had accumulated throughout his teenage and early adult years playing Quidditch and working as an Auror had depleted.

The Healer seemed to hesitate for a moment. She glanced another Healer nearby, "Can you contact Professor Dumbledore? Tell him that his presence is needed promptly."

They nodded and quickly left the room.

"How long has it been?" James repeated, squeezing Lily's hand a bit tighter.

The Healer took a deep breath before answering, "Today is October 31st, 1988."

Silence followed her announcement. Lily stared, eyes wide and mouth open, unable to comprehend that information. James' grip on her hand slackened.

"What?" James whispered, "Seven years?"

"I'm afraid so," The Healer said softly, "We didn't think you were going to wake up, but it appears that we were wrong. Seven years ago, your son defeated You-Know-Who. No one knows how but the killing curse backfired on You-Know-Who and Harry Potter survived."

"What?" Lily exclaimed, "But I couldn't get him to take the potion!"

The Healer shrugged, "No one knows how he did it, but he survived."

There was another moment of stunned silence and then, suddenly, James whispered, "Peter. It was Peter."

"Oh," Lily said softly, realization filling her. Peter had betrayed them.

"Peter Pettigrew?" The Healer asked, eyebrows furrowed before suddenly softening, "Mr. Potter. I am so sorry about Mr. Pettigrew, but he was killed by Sirius Black shortly after your attack."

Her breath hitched. She squeezed James' hand tightly, understanding what happened. Sirius must have realized what had happened and gone after Peter. He always was reckless and rash. Lily couldn't find it in herself to feel bad for Peter. He had sold them out to Voldemort. He must have been the rat. He had sold them out, fully expecting all three of them to die. He had tried to kill her baby.

No, she didn't feel bad for him. She was glad he was dead.

"What happened to Sirius?" She asked. James had fallen silent, distressed. She rubbed his back softly.

The Healer looked surprised, "Well, he's in Azkaban, of course!"

James choked, head snapping upwards. Lily sucked in a breath, "For killing him," she reasoned, "That seems a bit harsh to be there for so long when Peter was-"

"He also killed twelve muggles," The Healer said, eyebrows furrowed. She glanced at the door several times, nervously, "And he betrayed you. He was You-Know-Who's right hand man."

"No!" James cried out in horror, "It wasn't Sirius. We switched Secret Keepers. Peter was the Secret Keeper. He betrayed us. Sirius would never-"

The door swung open, and Dumbledore stood on the other side, dressed in blue, sparkly robes and a matching hat, "Mr. Potter, Mrs. Potter. I'm glad to see you two awake. Is Mr. Lupin here? He usually spends Halloween in St. Mungos."

"Remus ran off," James said, eyebrows furrows in concern, "I think I scared him. But, Professor, Sirius is-"

"Yes, yes, I heard," Dumbledore said calmly, "It seems we have made a grave mistake. Can you please explain what happened leading up to the attack?"

Lily glanced at her husband. Her heart was pounding, and she could barely breathe, but there was only one question on her mind, "Where is Harry?"

"He is safe. You can see him soon, but for now, what did you do?"

She could tell that he was dodging the question, and she was going to demand that he answer, but James spoke up before she could, giving him an answer.

"We switched Secret Keepers because Sirius thought it was too obvious if it was him," James said quickly, "We chose Peter, and he betrayed us. It wasn't Sirius. He never would have betrayed us. If he killed Peter, it was because of what Peter did, and there is no way he would have purposefully killed twelve muggles. There's been a horrible mistake."

Dumbledore was quiet for a long moment. A small hum left his lips. Lily squeezed James' hand.

"It seems that there has been," Dumbledore agreed, standing up, "I will send a message to the Ministry immediately with this new information and, hopefully, we can settle this mistake."

James nodded eagerly, but Lily spoke up. She was adamant on not letting the man leave before he gave her an answer, "I want to see Harry. Where is he?"

Dumbledore paused and thought for a moment, "I will send a message to his caregivers promptly, but I hope you can understand my not wanting to reveal his location in public. Once you two are dismissed from St. Mungo's, you may see him. However, remember that he has grown up in another family. He may not want to leave them."

The words stung, but she knew them to be true, "I don't care. I need to see him. I have to know that he is okay."

"And you will," Dumbledore said with a nod, "Now, I must be off. I have many things to attend to now. You two, behave for the Healers. Remember that you have been in a magical coma for seven years. You need time to rest and recover. I will be back in the morning with more news."

Before either of the two could say anything, he left the room, leaving the couple and the Healers silent in his absence.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hope you guys enjoy! Next chapter, we will see Sirius, Harry, and Remus. I love to read the reviews and I'm glad that I've gotten positive feedback so far. I'd love to hear what you guys think about this chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

Not a day had passed in the past seven years that Remus Lupin hadn't wished for his best friend and his best friend's wife to wake up.

He spent more time at St. Mungo's than he did his own house. If he wasn't at work or sleeping at home (or it was a full moon), then he was visiting them, bringing several books with him to research how to wake his last family up. He knew every Healer by name, and they knew his. Many patients assumed that he was another patient, and sometimes he wondered if he was.

He dreamed of James and Lily waking up. He daydreamed about what he would say and do when they did. He never stopped hoping.

Yet, when he woke up to James' voice, saw his brown eyes wide open, and processed his question, all thoughts fled his mind. His mouth opened, but nothing came out, and his heart pounded in his chest. He couldn't think.

And he ran.

One of the Healers called his name, but he ignored them, instead running to the floo, grabbing some floo powder, and shouting out his address before he could even think about what he was doing and why.

He tripped out of the fireplace in his flat.

He hit the ground and just laid there, blinking several times and focusing on his breathing. His heart seemed like it was trying to escape his chest. It burned. The room spun. His fingers tangled in his shirt and gripped hard, and he let out a muffled scream into the dirty carpet.

"There's no way that was real," he mumbled, "No way. I must be dreaming. I must be dreaming again. It can't be."

But it was. He closed his eyes, and he could see James' face, eyes open wide and confused. Those wide eyes, that he hadn't seen in seven years, were open, and awake. He was awake. He was awake. He was awake.

And Remus just left.

A hysterical laugh escaped his lips. He tried pushed himself up into a sitting position, but his arms shook with the force of the laughter leaving him, and he fell back down.

"Oh, Merlin. Oh, Merlin," he gasped out, "He woke up, and I just left."

It wasn't funny, but Remus hadn't laughed in a long time.

By the time he had calmed down, he was gasping for breath, sprawled out on his carpet, and feeling rather foolish. He pushed himself up and wiped at his scarred face, brushing tears from his eyes. His chest hurt as he took several deep breaths, finding himself staring at the white, chipped paint on his plain wall. He stared blankly, fingernails digging into the palm of his hand.

"He's awake," he whispered to himself, then blinked furiously, "Oh. He's awake."

His eyes flickered over to the clock, but then he remembered that his clock had been broken for the past two years. He pulled his wand out of his pocket and waived it, blinking blearily at the numbers that appeared in front of him.

2:26.

It was two in the morning. He wasn't sure when he had left St. Mungo's. He wasn't sure when his life had turned into this.

"James is awake," he whispered to himself, forcing himself off the floor, "James is awake. He's awake."

He stood in the middle of his living room, eyebrows furrowed. He stumbled to his dusty bookshelf and gripped it, staring at his fireplace, half-expecting James to appear, but that was impossible.

He was awake, but he wouldn't be released from St. Mungo's yet.

He was awake. He was awake. He was awake.

"I just left," he whispered to himself, "I have to go back."

His hand found its way to the floo powder, and he stepped into the fireplace, flooing directly back to his second home.

* * *

Halloween was never fun for Amelia Bones.

Before the war, Halloween was already hectic for Wizarding Law Enforcement, with many witches and wizards going out in their robes under the excuse that no one would know because they would just seem to be in costume. This also meant that they were much riskier, however, and they were constantly having to bring people in because of hexes performed on muggles. There was also the occasional drunk fight between relatives that had to be settled, and quite a lot of dark objects in children's baskets that had to be settled.

Halloween just had a way of making all the crazy people come out.

After the war, though, it was much worse. Not only was it Halloween, but it was also the anniversary of the end of the war, which meant much more parties and drunk fights and Death Eaters attempting to get revenge and risky behavior all around.

So, Amelia Bones absolutely hated Halloween.

Due to her position, she had to work Halloween, and stay late, which meant she was never able to take her niece trick-or-treating. She instead had to sit in her office and fill out so much paperwork that her hand wanted to fall off by the end and listen to Auror after Auror complain and rant about some witch or wizard that they had picked up and plan out court case after court case after court case for them.

She wasn't expecting it when, at two in the morning, a knock at her door turned out to be Albus Dumbledore.

"Chief Warlock," she nodded towards the man, standing up from her desk, "What can I do for you?"

He smiled, eyes twinkling, and took a seat in front of her desk. His blue robes seemed to match his eyes and she mentally wondered about the choice of garment but didn't dare say anything out loud. She was used to the loud and eccentric choice of robes.

"James and Lily Potter woke up roughly three hours ago," he spoke in a soft voice.

It took a lot to stun Amelia Bones into silence, but those words did it. She sat down suddenly, mouth falling open in surprise and brown eyes widening. For a moment, she thought that she must have heard wrong, because there was absolutely no way that James and Lily Potter, after seven years in a coma, had woken up.

"What happened?" she asked after several long minutes.

"I do not know for sure," Dumbledore admitted, "The potion that they took seems to have had a time limit, though. That's what we originally thought, after all. However, instead of the twenty-four hours that we originally believed it to take, it was seven years. They are awake and talking. Lily is demanding to see her son, and James revealed a startling fact to me that I will need to share with you."

Amelia frowned lightly, "When will they be released from the hospital? Will you be able to retrieve Harry before they are released?"

She knew that if she were in Lily's situation, she would want to see Susan immediately.

"I am not sure about that yet. I have sent Harry's caretakers a letter alerting them of the situation and it will arrive to them in Muggle mail this morning. I will talk to them soon asking if young Harry can visit, but the situation is very precarious. Harry has lived with them all his life. I do not know if he would wish to leave."

Harry Potter's location was a mystery to all but a few. Even Amelia Bones herself was unaware of it, but she couldn't help but agree with him. Most likely, Harry had settled in with another family, raised as their child. They couldn't just rip him away from the only family that he'd ever known. He would have to make a choice.

She nodded sharply, "That is a tough situation, but I trust that you will do the best thing for the boy."

"I hope so," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye, "Now, we need to discuss something that was revealed to me by Mr. Potter. It seems that we have made a mistake."

"A mistake?"

He nodded, "It seems that the Sirius Black situation was not as clean cut as we assumed, and Mr. Black is in need of a trial."

She frowned heavily at the mention of that traitor. Her eyes narrowed, "Explain, Chief Warlock."

"Gladly," Dumbledore said with a small nod, "According to Mr. Potter, Mr. Black was not their Secret Keeper. Rather, Peter Pettigrew was their Secret Keeper. They switched because Mr. Black would be the obvious choice. While there is a possibility of Mr. Potter being confounded or bewitched by Mr. Black before the attack, I believe that his word is enough evidence needed to give Mr. Black a trial. If he was not the Secret Keeper, then that would mean his attack on Peter Pettigrew was fueled by anger and betrayal, and the murder of the Muggles was not purposeful. His charge of being a Death Eater and betraying the Potters could be dropped if this is true, reducing his life sentence."

Amelia was left speechless for the second time in a row. Sirius Black? Innocent? That was impossible.

She stood up stiffly and walked to the nearby file cabinet, waving her wand, "Accio Sirius Black's folder."

One of the drawers opened and a surprisingly thin manila folder flew out. She caught it in her hand and sat back down, opening the folder.

"Ah, you use paper instead of parchment?" Dumbledore commented in interest, but Amelia only nodded, too engrossed in the folder.

On the top of the small stack was the paperwork of his arrest. She skimmed through the details, reading his name, birthday, occupation (Auror. He was an Auror. She had mentored him), wand, family, charges, details of the crime, and sentence. She flipped through the folder and pulled out the witness statements. There was only one sheet of paper, which had three witness statements from muggles who had witnessed it, and then been obliviated. There was another sheet of testimony from Remus Lupin, and another sheet detailing evidence.

There was no evidence on Sirius Black being the Secret Keeper. There was no evidence, besides witness statements and Peter Pettigrew's finger, about Sirius Black blowing up that street: not even a Priori Incantatem on the wand.

She flipped through, searching for details on the trial, but found none. There was a piece of paper on Black's job as an Auror, and a page on his relationship to the Potter's, and another page on his dark, familial history. Yet, there was nothing on the trial.

There had been no trial.

"Who handled this case?" she asked out loud, frowning at the folder in front of her, "This occurred before I was Head. Black was not given a trial."

Dumbledore was not surprised by this. He had known, "It was a dark time. Crouch was desperate to get as many Death Eaters off the street as possible. Many Death Eaters went without a trial, unless they had a lot of money. There was a reason that he was demoted."

"I wasn't aware of this," Amelia said quietly, frowning at the folder, "This isn't right. Everyone deserves a trial."

When she had taken over office in 1982, shortly after the War, she had been given the responsibility of helping the Wizarding World rebuild after the disastrous War. The fairness of the treatment of those arrested had been the least of her concerns.

Dumbledore agreed, "You have the power of fixing this."

She looked up, eyes hard and determined. She grabbed the trial calendar and found the quickest opening.

"Sirius Black's trial will take place in ten days."

* * *

 **AN: Hope you guys enjoyed! This chapter took a little bit of a different turn. I didn't plan on writing the scene between Amelia Bones and Dumbledore, but it felt necessary, so it took the place of Sirius' scene, but his scene will be in the next chapter. In the next chapter, we will get Remus reuniting with James and Lily, see the aftermath of Petunia receiving the letter regarding James and Lily being awake, and Sirius will be informed of his trial.**

 **Things are starting to pick up!**

 **I'd love some feedback, guys. Let me know what you think, and what you would like to see!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Warning: As I stated at the beginning, this story contains child abuse and violence. It is very prominent throughout the story, particularly here in the beginning, so if you are triggered by either of those, please proceed with caution.**

* * *

James had enough of being poked and prodded to last a lifetime.

The Healers wanted to make sure that there were no aftereffects of the potion that they took, or the seven years that they spent in a magical coma, so shortly after Dumbledore left, James was ushered back to his bed and asked dozens and dozens of questions. He'd had to do several movements to ensure that there was no paralysis or nerve damage, and then underwent several diagnosis spells. Lights had been shined in his eyes and ears and had his skin prodded and blood drawn.

He was exhausted by the time they finished, and the sun was peering in through the curtains.

"Are you up for visitors?" The main Healer asked. She was a tall woman, with brown hair pulled back into a tight bun. She reminded James of Minnie and had introduced herself as Healer Bell, "Remus Lupin has been waiting for hours to see you."

That knowledge perked him right up, "Yes! Of course. Send him in."

Healer Bell nodded, a small, knowing smile graced upon her lips. She turned and left the room, and it was only moments later before Remus peered into the room nervously.

"Moony! Mate, I thought I scared you off!"

Remus hesitated at the door. He didn't say anything. His eyes flickered back and forth from James to Lily, who looked up from a book that she was reading to send him a smile.

"Mate?"

"Prongs," Remus choked out. He stumbled forward, collapsing on the chair beside James' bed, and then lunged over the bed and pulled him into a tight hug, "I'm sorry for… for leaving. I just… I couldn't believe you were awake."

James wrapped his arms around the man, "Hey. Moony, it's okay. You look awful."

Remus sniffed, "Take a look at yourself."

He guffawed, pulling away and grinning at Remus, "I always look fantastic. You, however, look like you've been homeless for the past seven years," he arched an eyebrow at him, "Have you?"

A blush spread across his cheeks. He shook his head, "'Course not. I've got a little flat in Manchester. Lovely little place."

"Manchester, eh?" James asked. He was beaming. It felt like forever since he had last seen Remus, and he knew that it had been much longer for Remus, "Where are you working?"

"In a muggle library," Remus answered, "It's quite nice, actually."

James wrinkled up his nose, "You're a librarian? I always figured you'd become a professor."

"Oh, don't listen to him, Remus," Lily piped up from her bed, "I think a librarian is a splendid job. How have you been?"

"Oh, good. Good."

"Don't lie," James said, crossing his arms over his chest and pointedly looking at the man's shabby robes.

Remus copied his mannerisms, though more in shame. James was the only one who was ever able to make him admit when he was struggling, "Okay. Not well. It's been… It's been rough, ever since the… the attack. I was starting to doubt you two would ever wake up and there was no one else. Everyone's gone."

James frowned deeply, then forced himself to smile cheerily, "Well, don't you worry about that, Moony. We're awake now, and we're going to fix things. Starting with getting Harry and getting Sirius out of Azkaban."

"Yeah. Yeah, that will be nice. I'd love to see- Wait, what?" Remus' head snapped towards him so quickly that James wondered if he needed to call a Healer in to check him for whiplash. Confusion and anger resonated in those amber eyes. He stood up quickly, "What are you talking about?"

"Sirius is innocent," James said. His forced smile fell. Even he was unable to keep it up during such a topic, "He wasn't our Secret Keeper. Pettigrew was," he spat out his former friend's name, "Pettigrew betrayed us. I don't know what happened that day, but Sirius did not betray us. He wasn't a Death Eater. He killed Pettigrew because Pettigrew betrayed us, and if he really was the one to kill those Muggles, then it wasn't on purpose, but I highly doubt that he was."

Remus sat down harshly, skin ashen. His eyebrows furrowed in thought and he put his head in his hands, "But that's… that's impossible. Everyone knew he was the Secret Keeper."

"That was why we switched. It was too obvious. Sirius wanted to protect us, and he couldn't protect us if everyone knew that he was the Secret Keeper," James explained, "Pettigrew wasn't an obvious choice. No one would think that we would choose him, so we did, and he was the traitor."

"But… but he laughed!"

"What?"

Remus looked up. James could see the doubt and confusion and horror in his eyes as the realization slowly began seeping into him, "When he was caught. After he blew up the street, the Aurors caught him, and he laughed."

James furrowed his eyebrows, but Lily sighed sympathetically, placing down _Hogwarts: A History_ , "Oh, poor thing. He was probably hysterical. Peter outsmarted us."

An understanding seemed to seep into Remus' body. He leaned back in the chair suddenly, a breath leaving his lips, "Oh. Oh."

James nodded, "Yeah. Oh. Why in Merlin's name did they not give him a trial?"

Remus didn't answer. He buried his hands in his hair and sighed.

James shifted on the bed, sliding his legs off the side of it to reach over and place a comforting hand on his mate's shoulder, "Things are going to get better, Moony. Papa James is here."

A snort left Remus' lips. He looked up, mouth quirking upwards, eyes sparkling, "I've missed you, Prongs. And you, too, Lily."

Lily sent him a smile, and James leaned forward to hug him again. When he pulled away, his eyes flickered over the shabby garments that he wore, "When we get out of here, we're going to have to have to get you some new robes."

Remus opened his mouth to argue, but just as he did, there was a knock at the door. By the time James glanced up, it was already opening, and Dumbledore entered the room.

He was still wearing the same blue, sparkly robes, having not changed. He must have stayed up all night, but it didn't seem like it. He looked wide awake.

"Professor!" Lily shot up from her bed, determined, "I want you to take me to Harry. Now."

"Lily, you know I can't do that. The Healers say that you cannot leave for three days. They have to keep an eye on you and make sure there are no side effects from the potion," Dumbledore explained calmly.

"But-"

Dumbledore held up a hand, cutting her off and causing her to glare lightly at the man. He ignored it, "I have sent his caregivers a message informing them that you two have woken up. They should receive it soon. In the letter, I informed them that someone will be picking young Harry up tomorrow and bringing him here to visit, but the problem of custody remains. He-"

"He is my son," Lily interrupted him stiffly.

The old man nodded, "Yes, he is, but he has not lived with you. The choice should be Harry's. He may want to stay with the only family he's ever known. You can talk to him tomorrow."

Lily looked like she had swallowed something sour, and James felt like that too. The idea that his son, his little boy that, just yesterday (to him) was only fifteen months old, wouldn't want to live with them was hard to handle, but he knew it to be true. He hoped that whoever he lived with had treated him well, and he hoped that he was happy, but he also wanted his son with him, not with someone else.

James turned away from Dumbledore, unable to help but feel angry at the old man for keeping their son from them, even if he did make sense.

(A part of him also wanted to kill Snape for doing this to them.)

"Remus, I'm glad you're here," Dumbledore said with a serene smile, "I was hoping that you would be the one to pick up young Harry tomorrow, as Lily and James cannot leave, and I will be busy at Hogwarts."

Remus perked up, "Of course. I'd be honored. Where is he?"

James jumped in surprise, head snapping towards Remus, "You don't know?"

The werewolf shook his head regretfully, "No, Harry's location has been kept under wraps. I tried to find out and visit him, but I was turned away."

James sent an angry look to Dumbledore, but the old man simply shook his head lightly, "It was for safety reasons. There are only three people who know of young Harry's location. You must understand. Harry Potter is famous in the Wizarding World for defeating Voldemort. There are a lot of people who want revenge. The less people who know about his location, the better. For Harry."

Lily was having none of that. She crossed her arms over her chest, levelling a glare at the man, face red, "Remus is trustworthy! He would never do anything to jeopardize Harry's safety and you know that. Harry deserved to have Remus in his life if he couldn't have us."

Dumbledore held out his hands, "I am sure you will understand soon. It was all for the Greater Good. However, for now, we need to talk about Mr. Black's trial."

James did not want to change the subject. He wanted to know more about his son, but he also knew that Dumbledore was not going to say anymore, and he wanted to know about Sirius.

He didn't say anything, though, simply nodding at the man.

"I appealed to Madame Bones and after hearing the new evidence and reviewing his file, she has agreed to give him a trial. His trial will be on November 10th. Until then, he is going to be taken out of Azkaban and moved to a secure facility where he will discuss his case with a Barrister that I have already hired, as well as recover as much as possible from the effects of the Dementors before testifying. You two will both need to testify at the trial, preferably under Veritaserum as that will make your story much more convincing."

"Of course," James said with a nod. Lily nodded as well, though she still looked bitter over the lack of information about her son, "Anything to help Sirius."

Dumbledore nodded, "I also recommend having a Mind Healer check you for any kind of altered memories, as that will be beneficial in the trial."

James nodded again, "Did you see Sirius?"

He shook his head, "I was unable to get into Azkaban on such short notice, and they have not moved him out yet."

"I want to see him," James said firmly. Beside him, Remus nodded in agreement.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible until the trial," Dumbledore said with a light sigh, standing up, "You cannot have any contact with him until then. Now, I must be off. Remus, if you could stop by my office later today, I will give you the address to pick up Harry, but you must not tell anyone."

Remus nodded, "I won't, sir."

"Well, I wish you two a speedy recovery," he said, nodding towards James and Lily, the latter of which gave no response. James simply nodded back, conflicting emotions raging through him.

He watched closely as Dumbledore walked away, then sighed. He wanted to be angry. He really did, but he couldn't be.

"He has a point," Lily said, shoulders falling, a crushed look etched across her face, "What if they love Harry, and Harry loves them? I don't want to rip him away from his family."

James sighed, eyebrows furrowed at the door. His voice was resigned, "And if they don't, then he's been in a loveless home for the past seven years."

* * *

"Innocent. Innocent. Innocent. Innocent. Innocent. Innocent. Innocent."

That was the word that Sirius Black spoke on repeat. He sat on the cold, hard ground of Azkaban, arms wrapped around his skinny knees, eyes squeezed closed and mouth barely moving as he spoke. His hair was overgrown, knotted, and dirty, and his robes were torn and soiled. His face was gaunt, and his skin had a thin layer of dirt on it. He was cold. He was hungry. He always was.

His mind raced with horrible images. He could see their house, burning, broken. He could see James on the ground, his wand just out of reach, his glasses broken, his eyes closed. He'd gripped his body, shaking him, begging him to wake up, but to no avail. He could hear Harry screaming for his mum, but when he found him, Lily's body was sprawled across the floor in front of the boy's crib.

She was dead, too. Both of them were.

They were dead. They were gone. It was all his fault.

"No. no, no, no."

Innocent. Innocent. Innocent. He didn't do it. It was his fault. They were dead because of him. He was innocent.

He resisted the urge to turn into a dog. He had been hearing footsteps.

"Harry. Harry. Harry. So sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Innocent."

Harry's little screaming face burned into his mind, blood running down from a cut in his forehead.

Footsteps grew close to his cell. He buried his head into his knees, ignoring the stench from his robes. He did not want to see anyone. He did not want to hear anyone.

The footsteps stopped. He stiffened as a voice spoke up right in front of his cell.

"Sirius Black."

He did not respond. He did not look up.

"Today's your lucky day, Black. There's been some evidence come up. You're getting a trial."

Trial? Impossible.

He lifted his head, looking at the woman in front of him with dead eyes. The middle-aged woman was in green dress robes. Her blonde hair was pulled back into an elegant bun and she carried a black briefcase. Her blue eyes were intelligent and determined.

"My name is Amethyst Ainsworth. I will be representing you in your trial. For now, you are being moved to a secure facility away from Azkaban to prepare for your trial. Are you able to stand?"

He had to be hallucinating.

Ainsworth waited for a moment. When she didn't receive a response, she sighed. Then, suddenly, he realized that his cell door was opening, and she was entering. She knelt in front of her. He stared at her blankly.

He was dreaming, wasn't he?

She slid her arm underneath his and pulled him into a standing position. Then, slowly, she began to guide him out of the prison.

He'd wake up any minute now. He was sure of it.

Innocent. Guilty. His fault. Not his fault.

* * *

Harry could hear his aunt and uncle arguing in the kitchen.

He'd been home from school for roughly two hours, but the moment he had stepped inside of the door, his aunt had gripped his arm and put him in his cupboard, locking it from the outside without a word. She didn't even give him his chores for the day, nor had she let him out to start dinner. Normally, Harry wasn't sent to his cupboard until after dinner, when he would have a few hours to finish all his chores before cooking, but something was off today.

His uncle had only just returned home, and his aunt had immediately sent Dudley to his room, which was alarming in the first place, because his aunt never told Dudley to do anything.

He pressed his ear up against the door to his dark cupboard, trying to hear what was going on, unable to control his curiosity.

"What do you mean they're awake?" Uncle Vernon demanded, voice rumbling. Harry jumped as he heard a loud thud, as if Vernon had hit the table, "You said they would never wake up!"

"I don't know!" Aunt Petunia said in a shrill voice, "It's been seven years! But they are, and they're picking him up tomorrow?"

There was a beat. Harry leaned forward, entire body pressed up against the door as he strained his hearing. Then, Uncle Vernon asked, "So the boy is gone tomorrow?"

"No," Aunt Petunia said bitterly, "They're only picking him up for a visit."

"They're awake and they're not even taking the freak?" Uncle Vernon boomed furiously.

Harry jumped. Oh. They were talking about him.

But who were the other people that they were talking about?

"Apparently not," Aunt Petunia responded heatedly. When she continued, however, her voice was not as angry, and more concerned, "Vernon, if they find out about… They're dangerous."

There was another slam. Harry squeezed his eyes shut. He hoped Uncle Vernon didn't break anything. There was a vase on the kitchen table with flowers in it. Harry did not want to have to clean that up. Not only did he always cut up his hands when he cleaned up glass, but Aunt Petunia would be livid.

And she wouldn't take her anger out on Uncle Vernon.

"They won't find out about anything," Uncle Vernon said after a moment.

Harry jumped back as he heard loud footsteps coming towards the cupboard. He quickly lay down on the lumpy cot, pulling the old, blue blanket over himself to make it seem as if he was sleeping and not eavesdropping on his aunt and uncle. He turned his back towards the door to make it more believable, legs curling up to his chest to make himself more comfortable in the cramped space.

He could hear the cupboard being unlatched, and then the door swung open. Before Harry could even sit up, Uncle Vernon grabbed a hand full of his messy, black hair and yanked him off his cot.

Harry's hand unconsciously flew to his head, trying to relax his uncle's grip, and he gasped in pain.

"Boy!" Uncle Vernon bellowed, holding him by the hair in front of him, "You'll be visiting your parents tomorrow and you aren't going to tell them anything. Understand?"

"Wha- "

Uncle Vernon's hand left his hair roughly and he drove his fist into Harry's stomach, quickly shutting him off as the air was pushed from his lungs.

"Don't ask questions," Uncle Vernon hissed, "We were told that they were dead, but they aren't. Who knows where those freaks have been, but they want to see you now. You better be good, or you'll get a good beating when you get back."

Harry nodded quickly, hands protectively around his stomach. He mentally berated himself for trying to ask a question. He knew better, but he also knew that his parents were dead.

Don't ask questions.

"Harry," Aunt Petunia spoke up, causing Harry to jump in surprise. They didn't usually use his name. Only his teachers used his name, "You know we've always treated you as you deserve. Bad boys like you have to be punished."

He nodded, "Yes, sir."

"I won't tell them how bad you are if you don't tell them," Aunt Petunia said slowly.

Harry paused for a moment, surprised. Aunt Petunia always told people how bad Harry was. If she didn't, though, then they would think he was a good boy.

His parents would think he was a good boy.

His parents, who were somehow alive…

He nodded stiffly, keeping his mouth firmly closed. Don't ask questions. Curiosity was bad. He was bad. He didn't need to understand. He just needed to follow orders.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Good," Uncle Vernon grunted. He grabbed his arm in a bruising grip and then shoved him back into the cupboard. He hit his head on the top of the door but bit his tongue to prevent himself from letting out a noise, "You'll get out in the morning before they arrive."

The cupboard door slammed, and the lock clicked. Harry rubbed his head and grimaced lightly. He leaned back on hit cot and pulled his legs to his chest.

His stomach rumbled. He hadn't been allowed breakfast before school and Dudley had stolen his lunch, and now he wasn't going to be able to have dinner either. At least he didn't have to cook.

He'd rather cook than be stuck in the cupboard, though.

Maybe, if they thought he was good, his parents would give him some food.

His parents.

He blinked in the dark, cramped cupboard and bit his lip. Hope sprang up in his chest for the first time and he found himself smiling in the privacy of his cupboard, where Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia couldn't see him. He didn't want to get a beating, because bad boys weren't allowed to smile.

His parents were alive. Somehow, someway, his parents were alive. It didn't make any sense, but they were.

He must have been a very bad baby. Even the Dursley's hadn't sent him away, despite the many times Uncle Vernon had threatened to kick him out. Yet, they had. They had sent him to the Dursley's because he was bad.

Aunt Petunia wasn't going to tell them that he was bad, though. Maybe they thought that enough time had passed that he could be good now. If he could somehow make them think that he was good, maybe they would want him again.

Maybe, just maybe, he could have a family.

* * *

 **AN: Hope you guys enjoyed! This chapter was a bit longer than normal. I almost took out Harry's scene and left it for the next chapter, but I felt that it fit better here. I was feeling bad for not having any Harry scenes yet, anyway.**

 **The Dursley's are worse than they were in canon, and much more manipulative. The whole situation with Harry is going to be very complicated, so don't expect things to be resolved too quickly.**

 **Also, I just want everyone to be aware that I start my next semester of college soon, so while updates have been coming roughly every two days so far, they'll be a bit more spread out once it starts back.**

 **I'd love to hear about what you guys think so far! Reviews make my day! I'm curious as to what you guys think about it.**

 _ **In the next chapter, Harry meets Remus, James, and Lily.**_


	5. Chapter 5

The house in front of him looked vaguely familiar, but Remus couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Dumbledore had not told him much, simply giving him the address and warning him not to bring too much attention to himself near the house to avoid Harry's location being leaked. He'd also been told to tell Harry not to say where he's been in St. Mungo's, though Remus wasn't sure if that was possible.

James and Lily deserved to know, and Harry was a child. He shouldn't have to keep where he lives a secret from his parents.

Before he left St. Mungo's that morning, James and Lily had been entranced in a quiet conversation, trying to figure out who their son had been left with. Remus had to speak up only once, regretfully informing them that Frank and Alice Longbottom could not have him and why. They had several ideas that had interested Remus at the time, but the strongest suspicion of who had taken him in was the Abbott's, who were James' cousins and had a daughter the same age as Harry.

He stared up at the neat, square, Muggle house, and knew instantly that it was not the Abbott's.

His fingers itched to grab his wand and change his appearance before he knocked. He was never more self-conscious about his scars than when he was talking to children, and this was a child who was more important than all the others. He didn't want to scare him.

He resisted the urge and knocked swiftly on the door.

There was a short moment before the door opened. He could hear faint footsteps, and a woman whispering harshly, quiet enough that if Remus hadn't been a werewolf, he wouldn't have been able to hear.

"Don't forget to be good."

It was a phrase that he was sure many parents had said to their children, but there was something about the infliction behind the words that had his back stiffening.

The door opened and a skinny, horse-like woman wearing an ugly yellow dress and her brown hair pulled back in a bun stood in front of him. Her face was pinched in what must have been an attempt of a smile, and he instantly recognized the woman.

"Petunia?" he blinked in surprise, a sinking feeling in his stomach. He had only met the woman a handful of times, but she had always been less than pleasant, and he had heard many worse stories from Lily.

Her back stiffened and her eyes narrowed, not an ounce of recognition on her face, "And who are you?" she asked rudely.

"I'm here to pick up Harry," he said, mentally hoping that he had the wrong house.

Her eyes glanced back briefly, "I thought his parents were coming to pick him up."

Merlin. He had the right house. Dumbledore had left Harry with Lily's sister, who hated magic, who had called Lily a freak many times and treated her like dirt all through her childhood, who married a man who cursed James out when he dared to show up at his wedding. When Lily and Petunia's parents died in a suspicious house fire during the war (though it was never confirmed to have been Death Eaters), Vernon had tried to attack James and Lily when they came to their house, Lily wanting to be sure that her only surviving relative was doing alright.

"They haven't been released from the hospital yet. I'm a friend," he said after a moment of stunned silence upon the sudden realization, "I'm bringing Harry to them. Where is he?"

Remus had always been able to tell when someone was fake, so he eyed the woman suspiciously as she turned around and spoke in a sickly-sweet voice, "Harry, dear, are you ready to go?"

"Yes, ma'am," a small voice responded obediently.

Petunia moved out of the way slightly so that Harry could go through the doorway. Remus found himself thrown off by the sight of the child.

There was no doubt whose child was standing in front of him. He looked so much like James. His black hair was shaggy and messy, his face was thin, and he had a slightly upturned nose that was common in pureblood families. There were some differences in his appearance, though. Rather than brown like James' eyes, his were a startling emerald green identical to Lily's, and he didn't have glasses.

He was also small. Remus hadn't known James when he was eight, but by eleven he was the same size as his classmates, and by seventh year he had been one of the tallest. Lily had never been tall, but she was never short either. Harry, however, looked like he was five, rather than eight, and was all skin and bones.

His clothes, though they seemed to be in good shape, hung off him as if they were several sizes too big. His pants had been tightened with a hair tie to prevent them from falling off his hips. His shoes seemed to be the same and looked comically big on him.

He was staring up at Remus with large eyes, but he didn't say anything.

Remus smiled at the child, kneeling down so that he was eye level with him and holding out his hand, "Hello, Harry. My name is Remus Lupin. I'm a friend of your parents."

Harry blinked at him, head turned slightly as if he had a million questions in his mind, but he didn't ask them. Instead, he held out his hand and gently shook it, "It is a pleasure to meet you."

His voice was soft, and nervous, but almost like he was reading a script. Remus couldn't push the worry away.

He glanced back at Petunia, unsure of what to do. Every fiber of his being said to interrogate the woman and make sure that his cub was okay, but he could hear Dumbledore in his mind telling him not to draw attention to himself.

"Are you ready to go, Harry?" he asked instead, resolving himself to go to Dumbledore about it before he took Harry back. He did not trust Petunia, and he could tell that something was off.

The child nodded simply, "Yes, sir."

It was odd. Neither James and Lily had been very quiet children. James had been boisterous and talkative and while Lily wasn't quite so energetic, she was very friendly. Harry, however, was not like either of those. He was quiet, perhaps even shy.

He nodded at Petunia respectfully, though his wolf was fighting to get out, and gently put his hand on the child's shoulder to guide him to the street. The child flinched at the touch but didn't move away. Remus squashed down his worry.

The door closed without either Petunia or Harry saying goodbye, and that only set off another alarm bell in his head.

"Have you ever apparated before?" he asked the boy.

Harry shook his head. His eyebrows were scrunched up just like James' was when he was confused, "No, sir."

The manners felt foreign to Remus. Harry was supposed to have grown up referring to him as Uncle Moony, as James had insisted on, not Sir. He was too thrown to correct it, though.

Remus hummed lightly in thought, "Okay, then it will probably be best not to apparate there. Wouldn't want you getting ill. We can take the Knight Bus."

Harry still looked like he had questions, but Remus was more focused on getting them to St. Mungo's. They were out of the Wards that Remus knew Dumbledore would have put up around the house to protect Harry, and he wanted to be sure that no one saw them.

He glanced around to be sure that no Muggles were looking their way before pointing his wand out to the street.

BANG!

Harry jumped a mile in the air at the sudden sound. Remus glanced down, noting that the confusion in his eyes had grown, and fear had mingled in at the sudden appearance of the triple decker bus. He looked like he was about to run.

It hit Remus like a bludger.

"Harry?" he asked softly, holding up one hand to Stan who had opened the door, and placing the other on the boy's back, "There's nothing to be afraid of. It's just magic."

Wide green eyes flickered to Remus, but Harry did not say anything. He did not voice the confusion and fear that was so evident on his face.

Remus glanced at the bus, then back at Harry, "They never told you about magic, did they?"

"Magic isn't real," Harry said firmly, as if he had repeated that statement hundreds of times.

Rage bellowed in his stomach, but he kept it down.

"It is," he insisted quietly, "but it's good. We're going to get on the bus, and it's going to take us to a magical hospital."

"Oi," Stan Shunpike spoke up, watching them impatiently and checking his watch, "I don't got all day, now. That'll be eleven sickles per person, thirteen if ya want hot chocolate."

Remus winced lightly at that, knowing how dangerous hot chocolate was on the Knight Bus, and knowing that Harry was rightfully confused and scared.

Why hadn't Dumbledore told him that Harry didn't know about magic?

"Okay. Harry, how about I explain things to you on the bus?" Remus suggested.

Harry took a step back, as if he was going to refuse and run, but then he took a deep breath. Determination entered his eyes and he nodded.

* * *

Never before had Harry had more questions than he did at that very moment, but never before had he been so determined not to ask them.

Good boys did not ask questions, even when strange buses appeared out of the blue and seemed to travel faster than anything he had ever seen before.

He sat on the window seat at the back of the bus and stared out, watching as the bus jumped from road to road. The man, Mr. Remus Lupin, had waved the stick in his hand and a seatbelt had suddenly appeared and wrapped around him, keeping him in the seat as the bus jerked around. He had resisted the urge to pull it off, and was now staring at the road, trying to make sense of everything.

Mr. Remus Lupin seemed nice, but he also seemed… freakish.

Like him.

"Harry," Mr. Remus Lupin said softly to catch his attention. He turned his head, but kept quiet, "Have you ever done anything peculiar? Something that you can't quite explain?"

Harry sat up straight, quickly looking away and shaking his head, "No, sir."

He couldn't know. If he was a friend of his parents, then he had to think that Harry was good. Otherwise, he would tell them.

There was a beat of silence. After a moment, Harry glanced back over. Mr. Remus Lupin's eyebrows were furrowed, and he was regarding Harry curiously.

Then, he suddenly spoke, "When I was your age, I was angry at my dad because he wouldn't let me go to the park. I just kept staring at him, and I was so angry because I wanted to make friends, and all of the sudden, his skin turned a bright, vibrant pink."

Harry blinked at his words and didn't respond, trying to hide any ounce of emotion from his face. That sounded very familiar.

"When I was five, I really wanted to be like my dad who read all the time, but I was not supposed to touch his books. I was sitting in the living room and was really bored, and one of his books started floating towards me," Mr. Remus Lupin continued.

Harry's eyebrows furrowed, thinking of the time he had been staring at the plate of bacon that he wasn't allowed to eat and some of it had floated towards him. Aunt Petunia had been furious, and he had been locked in the cupboard for two whole days.

"When I was ten, I made the curtains burst into flames when my dad told me that I couldn't go to… a school that I really wanted to go to."

Oh. Mr. Remus Lupin was a freak like him. Harry blinked in surprise. He had thought that he was the only one. Did that mean that Mr. Remus Lupin was bad, too?

He stopped talking then and looked at Harry expectantly, but Harry had always been told only to speak if spoken to, and he had not been asked a question.

Finally, Mr. Remus Lupin asked in a soft, patient voice, "Have you ever done anything similar?"

Hesitantly, he answered, looking wary, "I turned my teacher's hair blue once and I, uh, unlocked a door without touching it."

He didn't want to tell him about the really bad ones like when Vernon hit him and got shocked, or when Dudley got knocked over when he tried to trip Harry, or when Petunia's mouth was glued shut for a full minute after she yelled at him for making a mess when Dudley had done it.

Remus smiled, "That was your magic," he said, "You're a wizard, like me. This is a magic bus."

"Magic isn't- "

"It is," Remus cut him off, "Your Aunt and Uncle lied to you."

Harry almost wanted to argue, because his Aunt and Uncle didn't lie. They were good. He was bad. They had to teach him to be good, and good people didn't lie.

He didn't, though. Good boys also didn't argue. Instead, he just fell silent, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to figure out what exactly was going off if he wasn't the only freak.

His eyes flickered around the bus, at the weird-looking man sitting up a bit and the bouncing nature of the automobile that they were in.

Magic?

* * *

Lily looked up sharply when the door to their hospital room opened. Her heart soared when she saw Remus leading in a young child.

Despite her muscles still being a bit weak despite the potions they were giving her to regain them, she pushed herself to her feet, grabbing onto the wall, "Harry?"

He had been looking behind him, as if entranced by something in the hallway, but he turned when he heard his name. Lily felt all the breath leave her chest at the sight of her son. His green eyes, identical to her own, looked at her, wide and nervous.

Remus shut the door behind them. Before Lily could recover, he spoke, "Lily, you aren't supposed to be getting out of bed yet without a Healer. Sit down."

He crossed the room quickly, pressing a hand to her shoulder to get her to sit. Harry shuffled over behind him, eyes flickering around the room.

He was perfect.

James shifted on the bed, but he gave a wide smile, "Harry! Look how much you've grown! Last time I saw you, you could barely walk! Look, Lils! Look at his hair!"

Harry brought a hand to his messy hair unconsciously, moving back lightly, as if he wasn't sure exactly what to do.

"He definitely got the Potter hair," Lily said with a smile.

"But your eyes," James continued with a grin.

Lily couldn't take her eyes off him, but she could quickly tell that something was off. Maybe he was just nervous to meet his parents, but he wasn't speaking. His eyes flickered up to Remus, then over to James, and then back to her. He looked unsure.

Lily gestured to her bed, "Come here, Harry."

He obeyed instantly, shuffling over to her bed and sitting down next to her. Lily placed a hand on his arm, opening her mouth to ask him all about himself.

He flinched.

Her mouth snapped shut, alarm bells blaring in her mind. She glanced at Remus and James, who had both noticed and looked concerned.

"Remus, mate," James spoke up, "help me over to Lily's bed."

He had already pushed himself into a standing position, but he was a little shaky. Remus quickly grabbed his arm to steady him, helping him walk over to the bed. James sat down on the opposite side of Harry, forcing a grin on his face despite the worry that Lily could obviously see on his face. He was thinking the same thing she was.

Something was wrong.

"Hey, Harry," James said with a smile, "I'm your dad."

"I'm your mum," Lily added on, "I'm so sorry that we haven't been around, Harry. We were both hurt very badly and were in a coma, so we couldn't."

Harry's eyebrows furrowed. His mouth opened as if to ask a question, but he quickly snapped it shut.

"You can ask questions if you want, Harry. I know this must be very confusing for you," Lily said, "I have many questions for you, too."

The child shook his head sharply, "I'll be good."

Lily blinked and looked up at James, whose face was twisted in confusion. She glanced over at Remus, who looked very worried.

"I'm sure you will, Harry," Lily said softly, "But do you have any questions?"

He looked conflicted for a moment, then shook his head, "No, ma'am."

Lily bit her lip, but let it go. James looked uncomfortable at the use of manners, and decided to speak up, "Harry, can I ask you some questions, then?"

The boy nodded a bit hesitantly, fingers hooking into his overly large shirt and twisting the fabric. Lily frowned lightly as her eyes flickered over the clothes.

Something was very wrong.

"Okay," James said with a small hum, "Well, what do you like to do?"

"Uh," Harry mumbled, eyebrows furrowed in thought, "Uh, I like to read."

Lily smiled at that, "What books do you like to read?"

He shrugged lightly, "Anything," he said, "Whatever my teacher assigns."

James perked up in interest at that, "Teacher? Do you have a tutor?"

A confused expression crossed over Harry's face and he shook his head, "No, sir. In my primary school."

"Primary school?" James asked, but Lily cut him off.

"Oh! You go to Muggle school. Wonderful! I had always told James that I wanted you to go to a Muggle primary school to learn your basics," she sent a victorious look at James, "But he was too scared to send you to one."

James held up his hands in surrender, "Hey, I've heard bad things about that. Why would you send away your child for hours at a time when they are only five?"

Harry didn't say anything. He simply blinked in confusion.

Remus spoke up, "Muggle is someone who in non-magical, Harry."

"Magic isn't real," Harry spoke quickly, as if on auto-pilot.

The phrase caused both to freeze. James pulled back in shock and Lily tensed, eyes flickering over to Remus for answers, but the man just shrugged helplessly.

"Harry," Lily spoke slowly, turning back to the child who had curled in on himself slightly, sensing the tension in the room, "Who told you that?"

Harry didn't answer for a moment. He seemed to be making himself seem as small as possible. Then, he spoke softly, so softly that Lily almost didn't even hear.

"Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. They said magic isn't real. It isn't."

It was Lily's turn to pull back as if she had been burned, dread and fury filling her entire body, "What?"

"I'm sorry," Harry said quickly, hearing the anger in her word, "I'm sorry. I'll be good."

James quickly put a hand on Harry's shoulder, but he flinched away, breathing heavily. James looked absolutely horrified, "No. No, Harry. She isn't mad at you, mate. It's okay. It's okay."

"Harry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I was just angry that they lied to you," Lily said, "Petunia is my sister. You were never supposed to go to her."

James nodded in agreement, taking several deep breaths to try to calm down. Harry didn't look like he had calmed down, though. He twisted his fingers nervously in his shirt, biting his lip and glancing around, as if looking for an escape.

"Harry," James spoke slowly and calmly, "Do they mistreat you?"

"No, sir," Harry spoke immediately, shaking his head, "They teach me to be good."

Lily sucked in a breath at his words, hearing the undertone behind it. She knew Petunia wouldn't treat a wizard child well, even if it was her own nephew.

She looked up. James had his jaw clenched. Remus was staring at Harry blankly, mouth fallen open.

"Harry, they shouldn't treat you badly," Lily said, forcing the anger out of her voice for fear of scaring him.

"They don't, ma'am," Harry whispered, shaking his head, "They treat me just as I deserve to be treated."

Lily shook her head and let out a breath. She didn't say anything else to Harry. Instead, she turned to Remus.

"Tell Dumbledore to get down here, right this moment."

* * *

 **AN: Hope you guys enjoyed! I'm so glad for all of the review that I've gotten so far. They're the reason that I've been so motivated to get these chapters out! I'd love to hear what you guys think about this one! What do you guys think of it so far?**


	6. Chapter 6

Harry didn't know who Dumbledore was, and he wasn't sure he wanted to. He could already tell that his parents didn't like him. He made them angry already.

Mr. Remus Lupin left the room quickly and Harry fixed his eyes on the ground, wrapping his arms protectively around his stomach and trying not to draw attention to himself. He tried to think of what he had done. He shouldn't have argued about the magic thing. He should have just agreed.

"Lils," he heard his father whisper, "Lily, what do we do?"

She was quiet for a moment before responding, voice just as quiet, "We fix this."

His stomach rumbled. It had been over a day since he had eaten anything. He'd gone longer, but that didn't mean his stomach would stop its actions to get him to eat.

"Looks like someone is hungry!"

Harry looked up, surprised by the sudden, cheerful voice. His father was grinning at him. Harry knew when adults were masking their emotions. The Dursley's did it all the time around guests. His father definitely wasn't happy, and it was odd that he was pretending to be.

His eyes flickered to the door to see if there were any guests, but there weren't.

"How about we go to the cafeteria and get something to eat while your mum talks to Dumbledore?" his father suggested, glancing at Lily with a bit of worry, but not letting his smile fall.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea," his mother said, "They have wizard food and muggle food, so you can get whatever you want. How does that sound?"

Harry glanced back over to them, surprised, but as his stomach rumbled again at the mention of food, he responded, "That sounds nice."

James beamed. He pushed himself up into a standing position slowly, taking a deep breath as he found his balance and then his smile grew proudly, "These potions are really working, Lils," he glanced down at Harry, "Just yesterday, I could barely move my legs. When you're asleep for seven years, your muscles are pretty shot."

Harry frowned lightly in thought. He wanted to know what happened to them. A coma explained a lot. It meant that they hadn't left him with the Dursley's on purpose.

James kept one hand on the wall for balance and began walking towards the door slowly and carefully. Harry followed, unsure of what to do. Part of him wanted to help, but he worried that that would him mad. Instead, he just fell in step beside the man, matching his slow pace.

The door swung open and a pretty woman in long white robes and brown hair pulled back into a tight bun stood in front of them.

"Mr. Potter," she chastised, "What do you think you're doing?"

Harry stared up at the woman and found himself unconsciously moving behind James' legs, where she couldn't see him. She didn't look happy, and Harry knew what that meant.

"Sorry, Healer Bell," James flashed her a smile, "Harry is hungry, so I figured that I would take him to the cafeteria."

The woman, Healer Bell, peered around James to see Harry. He moved farther back around James' legs nervously, not wanting her to see him. She saw him, though, but instead of yelling, she simply smiled.

"Hello, Harry," she greeted with a warm smile, "I didn't realize that you were coming today."

Harry didn't respond.

"Remus went and picked him up this morning," James said, "Now, what do you say, Healer Bell? Can we go?"

Healer Bell chewed on her lip, "Oh, I suppose. It's good for you to be getting up and moving anyway. Take the elevator, though. Not the stairs. And don't stay long."

James nodded and saluted her, causing Harry to giggle before quickly stifling it in his hands. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon always got mad if he laughed at them.

His father, however, only beamed at the sound.

"Come on, Harry. Let's go eat," James said, moving out of the room at a slow and awkward pace. He was struggling, but his face didn't show it.

Harry could already tell that he liked his father.

He just hoped that his father liked him.

* * *

Lily was glad that James had taken Harry to go eat. She was sure that the Dursley's weren't feeding him right, what with how tiny he was, and she didn't want him around when she tore into Dumbledore.

She couldn't believe him. How had he not realized that the Dursley's was the worst place to leave her son? There were dozens of places that he could have gone before them.

Remus peaked his head in a minute later and glanced around in confusion, "Where's James and Harry?"

"James took Harry to the cafeteria to get something to eat," she responded, "He doesn't want Harry hear when Dumbledore arrives."

Remus could read the unspoken words in her voice. He nodded and slipped inside of the room, "I'll let him have some alone time with Harry, then. I need to talk to Dumbledore too."

She nodded sharply, arms crossed over her chest. Her heart was beating hard in her chest with fury, "What did you see when you got him? Did you talk to Petunia?"

He took a seat beside her on the bed, shoulders falling. He looked defeated, "Yeah, I did. She… acted nice to Harry, but I could tell that something was off. She didn't say goodbye to him, and he kept flinching, and well, you saw the clothes he's wearing. They told him that magic isn't real! He still doesn't believe that it is, and he's in a magical hospital!"

She squeezed her fists tightly and looked away, letting out a harsh breath, "I'm going to kill them."

She had a bad feeling that they barely knew anything that had happened to her baby, too.

The door opened. Lily looked up sharply to see Dumbledore enter. He was calm and collected, but Lily could see the worry in his eyes, "What seems to be the matter, Mrs. Potter."

He closed the door behind him quietly and Lily stood up on shaky legs, "How dare you."

"Lily-"

"No, you don't get to talk right now," Lily hissed, holding onto the bedside table to keep her balance. She glared at the man, "You left my son with the Dursley's."

Dumbledore sighed, "Ah, it's about this," he said, pulling out his wand and waving it, placing a silencing charm around the hospital room.

"Yeah, it's about that," she snapped harshly, "They're mistreating him! You left my son with someone who doesn't like wizards and hates me, as well as my husband! You abandoned him with an abusive family."

Dumbledore held up his hands, "Lily, I assure you that he was perfectly safe."

"Safe?" Lily shrieked. She took a few steps towards him, wishing nothing more than to have her wand on her at that moment. Alas, it had not been returned to her yet, "He came in here today looking five instead of eight, wearing clothes that were way too many sizes too big for him, barely speaking, and flinching at every touch. He refuses to even believe that magic is real because they told him that it wasn't."

She watched his face carefully, looking for any sign that he had known of this, but his face shown none of it. Instead, she seemed to have stumped the man. He didn't respond.

"He was not safe," she said, voice dropping, "You left him in a loveless home where he was hurt, and I don't even know the extant it went. He was left there when there were dozens of other homes that he could have gone to!"

He seemed to have gathered his bearings. His voice sounded regretful as he took a seat on James' bed, but he still said, "Petunia was the only place that he could have gone."

"Why?" she demanded, "Why couldn't he have gone to the Abbotts? Or anyone else?"

Dumbledore was quiet for a moment. Lily's eyes flickered over to Remus, who was watching in silence, and then Dumbledore spoke.

"When you were attacked," he began, "you put yourself between Harry and Voldemort. Correct?"

"Of course," Lily responded, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"You took the potion, but Harry didn't," he continued.

The reminder felt like a stab to the stomach. She swallowed hard and nodded, "He wouldn't drink it. He got to the room before I could get him to."

The man nodded somberly, "Yes, but you were willing to do anything you could to keep him safe. You knew that the potion might not even work, but you didn't even try to jump out of the way of the curse because Harry was behind you. You sacrificed yourself for him. You were trying to buy time, weren't you?"

She swallowed again and looked away, the memory flooding through her mind. She nodded, "How do you know that?"

"I'm sure you've been wondering how Harry survived," he said. Lily nodded, "When the spell hit you, it enacted an ancient magic. You sacrificed yourself for your son and a mother's love is the strongest type there is. A protection was placed over Harry, and when Voldemort cast the Killing Curse onto him, it caused it rebound and kill him instead."

Lily was quiet. She wasn't sure what she was hearing.

Dumbledore continued, "The magic produced also made it possible for Blood Wards to be put up around Harry's home, but to do this, his caregivers had to share your blood. Petunia was the only one who could do this. There were a lot of people after Harry, and there still are. He needed the Blood Wards to keep away Death Eaters who wanted revenge. Petunia was the only person who could offer him that safety."

She couldn't speak. Her legs felt weak, weaker than normal, and she sat down on the bed hard, shaking her head. She looked back up at him, "He would have been safe in other places."

Dumbledore sighed, "In the first three years that Harry was there, aurors caught fifteen Death Eaters on his street. Some of them were right outside his home, waiting for him to walk outside the wards. Yet, they couldn't pass the wards. After the War, dozens of our strongest duelists and most outstanding witches and wizards were killed in their own homes. Just because Voldemort died, it didn't mean that there weren't people still trying to avenge him. It wasn't safe."

She shook her head, "There had to be some other way. He didn't deserve this. Did you even check up on him?"

"I admit that I had assumed that Petunia would lose her hatred of wizards if she had to raise one. I had believed that she would raise Harry just like she raised her son," he said quietly, "But it was also the only way. It was the best option for him to keep him safe."

She looked him straight in the eye. Her hands were shaking. Guilt flooded her unwillingly, as if it was her fault that the spell had done that, but she pushed it away. She could not feel guilty. She had to help her son, "He is not going back there."

"My dear girl-"

"No!" she interrupted, "Don't you dare. He will never go back there. I don't care if I must break out of this hospital tonight and take him with me and stay in hiding from you for the rest of my life. He will not go back to that house. He will never go back to that house. You need my blood for the blood wards. You have it."

Remus spoke up, "I can go back to the house and get his things and inform Petunia. If James and Lily can't get discharged tonight, he can stay here. The Healers can provide a bed for him. They do it all the time for children who have parents as patients."

Dumbledore did not look happy with this. He opened his mouth, but Lily beat him to it.

"If you even try to take him back there, I will personally go to the Daily Prophet and tell them all about how you left a child in an abusive home and didn't even check on him."

"Lily," Remus put a hand on her arm, calming her down slightly. He turned to Dumbledore, "You don't have any say in this, Professor. You don't have custody of Harry. He is their son."

Dumbledore was quiet for a moment, but then he sighed and shook his head, "You are right, my boy. I cannot force you to do anything, Lily, but I recommend thinking this through. Harry's safety should be your upmost priority."

"Oh, it is," Lily responded, "But unlike you, I care more than if Harry only lives or dies. I want him to have a childhood and be happy and healthy and _loved_. He will be staying with me and you cannot change my mind."

The man nodded lightly. He stood up slowly and let out a sigh, "I only wanted what was best for Harry."

He began to walk to the door. Lily took a deep breath and looked away, but she spoke up before he got out, "Dumbledore?"

"Yes, my dear girl?"

"Stay out of my son's life."

* * *

James watched Harry in curiosity as the child sat on the chair in the cafeteria, a plate of nachos in front of him. It had taken him a good five minutes just to get Harry to willingly pick something to eat. When Harry finally pointed out the nachos, James hadn't even questioned it, too thankful that Harry had actually picked something.

Now, however, he found himself neglecting his own sandwich in favor of watching the boy pick at the cheese-covered chips. He had eaten only a few bites before he stopped, choosing instead to just lift the chips off the plate and watch the cheese drip down.

"Do you not like it?" he asked the boy, concerned. He was skinny as a rail and had seemed rather hungry not long before.

Harry jumped at the sudden words, "Oh! No, it's good," he said quickly, ducking his head, "I'm just full."

James frowned lightly, eyes flickering over the boy, "Full? You only ate a few bites."

The child bit his lip and looked away, "I don't eat much."

He quirked an eyebrow at the boy, but he didn't ask any questions about that. They were surrounded by witches and wizards, and quite a few of them were staring at them. He had been told by several people that they were kind of famous now, and he hadn't realized how uncomfortable it would make him to have people staring at his son.

"Are you sure you don't want to eat more?" he asked. He took another bite of his sandwich.

Harry hesitated, but then he picked up another one and took another bite.

James smiled. His eyes flickered over to the glass of pumpkin juice by Harry's plate that was already half empty. Though he was barely picking at the food, he seemed to greatly enjoy the juice.

His son liked pumpkin juice.

That little nugget of information danced around in his brain and he found his smile growing even more at the bit of knowledge that he was learning about his son.

"So, do you ever play any sports?" he asked him, wanting to know every bit of information about him.

Harry squirmed lightly in his seat. He ducked his head and blushed, "Sometimes. I play football at school sometimes, but I always get picked last."

"Do you enjoy it?" he asked curiously.

The boy paused for a moment, eyebrows furrowed in thought, "Yeah, when Dudley isn't there."

"Dudley's your cousin, right?" James asked. He remembered Lily mentioning that Petunia had a son named Dudley.

Harry nodded slowly, "Yeah. He's good, though. When he is there, he always punishes me."

James froze, the sandwich lifted halfway to her mouth. Slowly, he sat it back down, feeling sick, "What do you mean?"

The child looked up sharply and clamped his mouth shut, shaking his head, "Never mind. It's nothing. I'm sorry, sir."

"Don't be sorry, Harry. You didn't do anything bad," James assured him, "And it's not nothing. What did he do?"

"Nothing," he shook his head again harshly, "I'm good. He doesn't have to punish me."

James frowned. He wanted to push it but as he looked around him, he noticed that several people seemed to be eavesdropping into the conversation, ecstatic to get to hear about the Boy-Who-Lived's life. So, instead, he sighed, resolving himself to ask Harry more about it when they had privacy.

He wondered if he could get Healer Bell to give Harry a checkup without an appointment.

* * *

Sirius Black still wasn't sure what was going on.

The holding cell that he had been put in was small and cold, but it felt like heaven to him. He had spent the first day that he was there laying on the cot and staring at the wall, marveling at the warmth inside of him that proved that there were no dementors around. A few Aurors had entered and tried asking him some questions, but he hadn't responded. They brought him food, though, and Sirius ate it all.

In Azkaban, he was given three meals a day, but the food was stale and gross, and the portion size was tiny. This food was warm and filled him up by the time he had finished half of it.

The more he ate, the more strength he felt leaking back into him.

It wasn't until, on the second day, he felt strong enough to speak.

"What happened?" he croaked out, voice straining from lack of use.

Amethyst Ainsworth, the woman who claimed to be representing him at his trial, was sitting on the other side of the cell. She was regarding him silently, having been waiting for him to speak up for roughly an hour. She had been a constant companion in the cell, but she didn't speak much if she didn't need to.

"Mr. and Mrs. Potter woke up," Ainsworth explained. Her voice was clear and determined, "they were quick to proclaim your innocence. With this new evidence, Dumbledore approached Madame Bones and they set up a trial."

Sirius blinked at her slowly. Then, he slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, staring at the cot, "James and Lily are dead."

Ainsworth was quiet for a long moment. Sirius looked up after a minute, finding Ainsworth frowning heavily and looking at Sirius with pity. She pushed her blonde hair out of her face and sighed.

"They're not dead, Mr. Black. They have been in a coma for the past seven years," she said softly.

Sirius shook his head, "I saw their bodies."

"Yes, but they took a potion that made them appear dead for a limited amount of time, similar to the Draught of the Living Death, after being hit by the Killing Curse. It was a potion that had never been tested before and it ended up putting them into a coma. No one thought they would wake up, but they did," she explained slowly, watching him carefully.

He stared at her but shook his head, "No. No, that's impossible."

"I assure you that it is not. They are alive. Now, your trial is in eight days. We need to discuss your case."

Sirius shook his head, "You're lying."

There was no way they were alive. He had spent the past seven years mourning them, revisiting their death every time a dementor came near. They were dead. There was no way they had survived.

"Mr. Black, I assure you that I am not lying," Ainsworth said firmly. She pulled a newspaper out of her robes and held it up to him, showing the front page.

" _James and Lily Potter Wake Up"_

He found himself staring at the page. A picture of Dumbledore talking to reporters caught his eye. His eyes flickered up to the date, confirming that it was accurate, and then back to the woman.

"You're not lying," he said slowly, "They're alive."

She nodded firmly, "Yes, they are alive. Now, I need you to tell me everything that happened that night."

* * *

 **AN: Hey, guys! I hoped you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Now, I have started back at school, so I am not going to be able to update as often as I have been. I have decided to put myself on a schedule. From now on, I will be updating every Sunday, starting this Sunday. So, I will post another update on Sunday, but then the next update will not be until next Sunday.**

 **Next chapter: Harry has his first checkup and Remus visits the Dursley's again, and more about Harry's home life is revealed.**


	7. Chapter 7

Shortly after James and Harry came back to the room, Remus excused himself and went to the Dursley's to pick up Harry's things. Lily wanted nothing more than to go with him, desperate to chew out her sister, but she withheld herself from breaking out of St. Mungo's and going with him.

Harry was more important.

That didn't mean that she wouldn't go to see her dear sister the moment she could. She had some questions that she wanted to ask her.

At the moment, Harry was sitting on a chair nearby, hands folded in his lap and staring at them silently. James had stepped out for a moment with Healer Bell to talk about something that he hadn't even spoken to Lily about, and she was sitting in her bed, awkwardly trying to find something to talk to her son about.

She had always promised herself that she would have a good relationship with her son. Now, she had no relationship with him. That knowledge hurt.

The door opened before she could even ask Harry anything, and James and Healer Bell reentered.

Healer Bell looked a bit worried as she entered, helping James to his bed, before she turned to Harry, "Hello, Harry. I was wondering if you would be okay if I gave you a quick checkup?"

Harry looked up with wide, nervous green eyes. They flickered over to James and Lily, as if asking permission, and James gave him a slight nod.

"Okay."

Healer Bell gave a wide smile. She drew her wand, which caused Harry to tense, watching it warily.

"Can you stand up for a moment?" she asked him.

He obeyed, standing up and moving towards James a bit. Healer Bell waved her wand, causing the chair that he had been sitting in to turn into a child-sized bed. Harry jumped at the transformation, backing away from Healer Bell and sending James a startled look.

"It's just magic," James explained softly, "It won't hurt you."

"But- "Harry started before he clamped his mouth shut, unwilling to argue anymore.

Healer Bell sent Lily a worried look, but simply spoke up, "Can you lay down on the bed, Harry? I'm going to cast a simple diagnostic spell on you, okay?"

His green eyes shown bright with confusion, but he only nodded, warily climbing onto the bed and laying down, arching his head awkwardly to keep an eye on the Healer.

"Okay, you're going to feel a slight tingling sensation. That's just the spell checking for your height, weight, and any abnormalities that need to be healed or remedied."

Harry made a weird face at the word 'abnormalities', but he did as he was told. Lily could see the nervousness in his face, though, so she pushed herself out of bed and made her way next to him, leaning against the wall beside him and saying softly, "Don't worry. It won't hurt."

His eyes glanced towards and he nodded lightly. Lily smiled. He trusted her, at least a little bit.

Healer Bell waved her wand over his bed, muttering the spell softly under her breath. Harry jumped, eyes going to Lily and squirming lightly at the feeling from the spell. His eyes quickly darted to the parchment that suddenly appeared from thin air in front of Healer Bell, fear flashing in them at the sudden appearance.

Lily found herself unconsciously grabbing her hand to offer him comfort. He stiffened at first, but then relaxed, squeezing her hand back.

Once the spell was complete, Healer Bell pulled away and grabbed the parchment out of the air, letting her eyes trail over the words that had appeared. She nodded after a moment, a frown on her face, and then sat down in the chair. Lily noticed her eyes flicker up to Harry's scar before going back to the parchment, "Okay, Harry. I see that you have two bruised ribs and a bruise on your upper arm. I'm going to give you some bruise balm to heal those, but can you tell me how you got those?"

Harry stiffened. He licked his lips nervously and then said, "I-I was playing football at school and fell."

He was lying. Lily could tell. His eyes darted away from them as he spoke, and his hand wrapped around his torso protectively. Anger flared up in her, mind racing with scenarios that could have happened that led to her baby having those injuries. She squeezed his hand lightly and he glanced at her, before averting his eyes quickly.

Healer Bell hesitated but didn't push it with him. Lily was grateful. She knew that she was going to have to let Harry open up to them on his own terms. He didn't seem to want to and she didn't want to push him away.

Instead, Healer Bell just said, "Okay. I don't see any other current injuries, so that's good. I am going to prescribe you a nutrient potion, though," her eyes flickered over to James and Lily, "You weigh a little less than fifteen kilograms, which makes you rather underweight for your height and age."

Fifteen kilograms? That was even worse than she had been thinking. She sucked in a breath, eyes flickering over her child in concern.

Healer Bell glanced over the parchment for a few more moments before looking up, a light smile on her face, "It also looks like you've gained your father's eyesight."

James groaned at that, "Really? Merlin, I was hoping he would take after his mother in that regard."

Healer Bell laughed lightly and shook her head, "Nope. I recommend taking him in and getting some glasses once you get out of here. He is pretty badly near-sighted."

"Just like me," James said, shaking his head, but he had a small smile on his lips.

Harry pushed himself into a sitting position and frowned lightly, but he didn't ask any questions. Lily wished he would. She could tell that he was confused.

Healer Bell stood up with a nod, "Okay, well I am going to go fetch those potions for you. James, Lily, can you come into the hallway with me?"

Lily sent Harry a concerned look but squeezed his hand once more and stood up, "We'll be back in a minute, Harry."

The boy nodded, pulling his legs to his chest and wrapping his skinny arms around them. He chewed on his fingernails and looked away.

Her eyes flickered over to James, who was staring at Harry sadly, before she followed Healer Bell out of the door, catching herself on the doorframe when she stumbled. Healer Bell glanced back at her in alarm, before nodding, "Those potions should have your muscles fully redeveloped by tomorrow morning."

"Good," James said, clapping his hands as they closed the door to the room, leaving Harry alone, "I can't wait to play Quidditch again."

Healer Bell settled him with a look, arching an eyebrow, "That doesn't mean you can be reckless. You'll need to take it easy for a few weeks."

He scoffed and smirked, "Come on. We all know that I am the most graceful person there is on a broomstick. I could fly with a broken leg."

"Oh shush," Lily admonished him, "You're going to tempt the fates if you keep talking like that."

He chuckled but held up his hands in surrender, "Okay, okay. I'll be careful."

Healer Bell nodded firmly, "Good. Now, I wanted to talk to you two about something that I noticed on the parchment. I didn't want to bring it up where Harry could hear," she glanced around them and then threw up a quick silencing spell so that no one passing by could eavesdrop. Nodding in approval, she continued, "Have you noticed his scar, yet?"

Lily shook her head, "Dumbledore mentioned it, but his hair covers it. I haven't even seen it yet."

"Well, it's definitely there, and there is dark magic residue surrounding it. I'm not exactly sure what it is. It may just be from the killing curse, but I can't be certain. I'd like to perform a more thorough exam on him at a later date, but I don't want to put too many spells on him right now with how malnourished he is."

James' eyes lost their mischief and his eyebrows furrowed, "What do you think it is?"

"I can't be certain," She continued, "In fact, I honestly have no idea what it could be, but I don't like it. I want to be sure that whatever it is isn't affecting him negatively. If you notice anything strange, like if he complains of headaches or anything, please inform me straight away. Once he is up to a healthy weight, I want to examine it closely and make sure that it isn't going to be dangerous to him."

Lily nodded quickly, eyes flickering to the hospital room worriedly. Voldemort was still affecting them from beyond the grave. She had hoped, after learning of his demise, that they would not have to worry about him anymore, "Of course. Merlin, I thought that he couldn't hurt us anymore. I thought that was all in the past."

James put his arm around her shoulder and squeezed it lightly, "It'll be okay, Lils. Whatever it is, Healer Bell can fix it."

Healer Bell gave a smile, but it looked uncertain. She sighed lightly and shook her head, "We don't need to worry about it now. He's lived seven years without it hurting him, it seems. Just keep an eye out for any signs and bring him in for weekly checkups so I can keep an eye on his weight. He is severely malnourished and is going to need to gain weight if he wants to catch up with his peers."

"Of course," Lily replied with a sigh, "Merlin, how did this happen?"

James shrugged lightly, sighing, "It's going to be okay, Lils. We're going to fix this. Harry is going to be okay now," he assured her, "Thank you, Healer Bell. We owe you a lot."

She shook her head, "It's my job. Even if it wasn't, I want to help. I've got a little girl close to Harry's age. I'd hate if she was in his shoes. He's going to need a lot of love."

They both nodded in agreement. Lily bit her lip hard and closed her eyes lightly, "He'll get it."

Healer Bell nodded, "Okay, you two go back in there with your boy. I'm going to go get the bruise balm and nutrient potion. I'll be back in a few minutes."

As the Healer set off down the hallway, Lily sighed and turned to her husband. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her head in his shoulder. James wrapped his arms around her as well, holding her close. She mumbled into his shirt, "How could things have gone so wrong for our baby?"

"I don't know," he said with a sigh, "But it is going to be better. We're going to make sure he is safe and happy from now on."

She nodded, pulling away slowly and giving him a watery smile, "You're right," she said, "We should let him know that."

James smiled, "Of course I'm right," he smirked, but his usual arrogance wasn't in it. Instead, he reached for the door, "We should."

Harry looked up when they entered. He was in the same position as when they left the room, knees pulled up to his chest on the bed. Lily found her eyes glancing up to his forehead, but his long, unmanaged hair covered it.

She made her way over to his bed, finding her legs stronger than before, and sat on the edge. James followed, taking a seat on the chair nearby. Harry gave them both a wary look.

"Harry," James said softly as he took a seat, "How would you like to come live with us?"

His eyebrows perked up in surprise. Hope entered those green eyes, "Leave the Dursleys?" Before either of them could respond, Harry gasped, both hands coming up to cover his mouth suddenly, "I'm sorry!" he exclaimed quickly, "Yes, I would."

Lily's eyebrows furrowed in worry, "Why are you apologizing, Harry?"

"Good boys don't ask questions," he said, as if speaking from a script, as if it was obvious, as if it was true.

She closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths to keep herself calm. When she opened them, Harry looked nervous, squirming on his bed and looking down at his hands, "I'm sorry," he whispered, "I want to be good. I don't want to be bad."

"You are _not_ bad," she said sternly, shaking her head, "You're good, and good boys ask questions. You can ask any questions that you want, Harry. They were wrong to tell you that. They lied, and you never have to see them again, okay?"

He looked up at her, confused, but a touch of a smile etched onto his lips, "Okay."

* * *

Remus Lupin was not one to get angry easily.

Because of his lycanthropy, he had spent years making sure that he controlled his temper, wanting to make sure he gave no one a reason to think any less of him, or to prove their prejudice against werewolves right. He'd learned to stay calm and reasonable. He could only remember getting furious a handful of times in the past.

Now, however, he felt like he could rip the Dursley's limb from limb.

He stood in front of the door and knocked on it loudly, swallowing down his anger as he waited for someone to answer.

It took a moment for the door opened, but then Petunia was standing in front of him, a frown on her horse-like face.

"Where's the boy?"

"He won't be returning," Remus said, squeezing his hand into a fist and taking several deep breaths, "I'm here to collect his things."

Her face grew pale and her eyes glared at him, "What do you mean he won't be returning?"

"I mean exactly what I said," he told her darkly, glaring right back, "We know that you've mistreated him. Now, if you will let me retrieve his things, then I might decide not to curse you into the next century."

If possible, she grew even paler. She looked like a ghost. Nodding sharply, she opened the door so that he could enter, "It wasn't our fault," she choked out, "He's dangerous. He was always doing freaky things. We had to control him."

He entered, fingers itching towards his wand, and leveled his eyes onto her, "He is a child, and he is a wizard. He can't control his accidental magic. You did not need to control him. You needed to love him, and you failed."

"You don't understand," she said desperately, "We never asked for him. He was left on our doorstep. We weren't given a choice and he wouldn't stop crying when he got here, and he kept doing freaky things. We had to keep him obedient so that he wouldn't destroy everything! He was an evil little-"

Remus drew his wand, training it on her throat. She clamped her mouth shut, fear flashing through her eyes as she backed away.

"He was a little boy, who had been hurt and ripped away from his parents," he hissed in anger, "There is no excuse that could ever make what you did seem right. What you did was despicable. He was your nephew."

"We didn't want him!" she shrieked, "It wasn't our fault!"

"Calvario!"

The spell left his mouth before he could even think about what he was doing, fury raging through his veins. Petunia shrieked as the spell slammed into her chest, and then Remus watched in satisfaction as she brought her hands to her head and grabbed her hair, pulling clumps of hair away as it began to fall out. She screamed again, "What did you do?"

"I could do a lot worse," Remus threatened, "Where are Harry's belongings?"

She didn't respond. Instead, she continued to pull away her hair and shriek, collapsing into the wall and desperately pushing her hands against her head as if she could make her hair stop falling out, as if she could reattach it.

"Where is his room?" he demanded, wand pointed directly at her again.

She crumpled on the ground as if he had slapped her and pointed shakily at the cupboard under the stairs.

"I asked where his room was," he said, annoyed.

She kept pointing at the cupboard, "T-that's his r-r-room."

Dread pooled down in his stomach. His eyes flickered to the cupboard and then, slowly, he approached it.

No. Surely not.

He unlocked it with shaking hands and opened the door to the cupboard.

Inside the cupboard, there was a small cot with a blue, baby blanket that Remus remembered Harry having as a baby. A few broken toys lay near the cot, but that was it. There was nothing else.

His hands came into the cupboard and pulled the blanket out. The blanket was torn lightly, fraying in several places, and extremely dirty. His eyes raked over it, seeing the small inscription of Harry's name in the corner.

He slowly turned back to Petunia, "Where are the rest of his things?"

"That's it," she answered, voice quiet and fearful.

"What do you mean that's it?" he asked darkly.

She shook her head, "That's all he has. We couldn't… We couldn't afford more."

He knew that was a lie. He had eyes. He could see the expensive vase on the table nearby, and the fancy china in the dining room. The Dursley's were not struggling for money.

His wand twitched in his hand. He swallowed thickly and gripped the blanket tightly, fighting down the urge to hex the woman into oblivion. He didn't want to get arrested. Not now, when he finally had his family back.

"You better count yourself lucky that you're still alive," he said darkly, "You will never see Harry again, but I can't promise the same for his parents. I'm sure you'll be seeing them soon enough."

He spun on his heel and left the Dursley's residence, hearing Petunia shriek in horror at his words. He didn't turn back. He knew that if he did, he would only get himself into trouble. He slammed the door shut and tucked the blanket into his robes.

He would go back to St. Mungo's. But first, he needed to do some shopping.

* * *

He didn't have to go back to the Dursley's.

That knowledge bounced around happily in his head. He liked his parents so far, even if he kept reminding himself what Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had said. His parents were drunks and bad, but they didn't seem bad. They seemed good, even if they were freakish, like him.

Not, not freakish. They were magical.

Magic was real.

After the diagnostic spell had been cast on him, there was no denying it. He tried to wrap his mind around it, and he bit his tongue to keep himself from not asking his parents questions. They had said that it was okay if he did, but he didn't want to annoy them. If they were going to take him in, then he needed to be on his bed behavior.

He found himself listening intently as his father told a story, one that Harry couldn't figure out if it was real or not, about a time when he and his friends went to a scary forest and were nearly killed by centaurs. He wanted to ask so many questions.

He was so enthralled in the story that he didn't even realize the door to the hospital room open, but James cut off the story right when he was talking about somebody named Sirius attempting to jump onto the back of one of the centaurs.

"Moony!" James said cheerfully, "Right on time. I was just telling Harry about the time we escaped the centaurs."

Mr. Remus Lupin was at the door and carrying several shopping bags. He arched an eyebrow at him, "Don't be giving him ideas, James. Lily will kill you if you he tries to explore the Forbidden Forest when he gets to Hogwarts."

Lily made an affirmative noise, as if she agreed with Mr. Remus Lupin, and then spoke up, "What do you have there, Remus?"

"Oh, I just went and got some things for Harry," Remus said with a smile, sending James and Lily a knowing look.

Harry looked up, surprised at the answer that he gave. His eyebrows furrowed. For him?

Remus walked over to Harry's bed and sat the bags by him. There were three bags and he peered at them curiously.

"I wasn't exactly sure about your size, but we can shrink or enlarge them as needed," Remus said as he grabbed one of the bags and pulled out two muggle t-shirts: one red and one blue. He also pulled out two pairs of pants, and a set of pajamas.

Harry blinked. They looked new. Harry never had new clothes before.

In the next bag, Remus pulled out a new toothbrush, toothpaste, a comb, and a pair of shoes. In the final one, he pulled out a coloring book, crayons, a stuffed lion, two books.

Harry stared at the assortment of things, unable to comprehend what he was saying. It was so much.

"Oh, Remus. Thank you!" Lily exclaimed happily, "That was so sweet. We'll pay you back, okay?"

Remus shook his head, "Oh, no, it's fine. I wanted to make sure Harry has the things that he needs."

"We're going to pay you back, mate," James said with a light smirk, giving him a knowing look.

Harry didn't realize it, though. Instead, he reached out a wary hand to the stuffed lion, as if it would bite him, and took it into his grasp. It was soft and warm. He'd never had a toy of his own before. At least not one that wasn't broken.

"Do you like it?" Remus asked nervously.

Harry nodded, looking up at him with a small smile, "I love it. Thank you, Mr. Remus Lupin."

James snickered lightly at the name, but Remus only beamed.

He liked Mr. Remus Lupin, too.

He hoped that he could keep them.

* * *

 **AN: Hope you guys enjoyed! Leave me a review and let me know what you think so far!**

 **Next chapter will be posted next Sunday. James and Lily are released from St. Mungos and decide to stay at Potter Manor for the time being. Ainsworth sets out to confirm information that Sirius told her with James and Lily.**


	8. Chapter 8

Lily could tell that Harry hadn't slept much the night before.

He hadn't said anything and had not been difficult to get out of bed when the Healers came in in the morning, but she could see in his face that he was tired. He blinked blearily as he got out of bed and obediently ate the breakfast that the Healers had brought for them. He ate slowly, eyes closing and head bouncing every now and again as he fell asleep, before jerking back away.

She wished he would complain, like other children would.

"We're going to do a quick evaluation of you two," Healer Bell said as she brought Harry the foul-tasting nutrition potion, "If everything looks good, you can leave today!"

Harry silently and obediently drank the nutrition potion as she spoke. His face twisted in disgust momentarily, but he quickly forced a blank stare to come across his face.

James perked up from his bed, "We can go?"

"If you pass the evaluation," Healer Bell stressed, arching an eyebrow at him, "We need to make sure that there weren't any complications from the potions, and make sure that your muscles are good enough for you to walk without help."

She drew her wand. Lily's eyes flickered over to Harry, noticing him eyeing it warily as Healer Bell waved her wand over James, performing the same diagnostic spell that she had performed on Harry the day prior.

Healer Bell's eyes flickered over the parchment and then she nodded in approval, "Okay, everything looks good. Now, stand up and walk to the door."

James stood up and walked to the door smoothly. The strength to his muscles had come back and he didn't even stumble when he walked. Once he reached the door, he turned and beamed proudly.

"Very good," Healer Bell said with a nod, "Once Lily has her evaluation, I'll check you out."

She turned to Lily and cast the diagnostic spell on her. Lily shivered lightly at the feeling, suddenly nervous that something would be wrong.

Healer Bell's eyes flickered over the parchment, and for a moment Lily thought that she was going to tell her that she was ill and wouldn't be able to leave, but then she simply nodded, "Okay, Lily. Stand up and walk to the door."

Her shoulders fell in relief and she smiled widely. She swung her legs off the bed and took a deep breath as she slowly stood up.

The day before, her legs had been shaky when she stood, but now they stood strong. They weren't strong enough for her to go run a marathon, but as she took her steps towards the door, she did not falter or stumble. Her motions were smooth and steady, and by the time that she reached the door, she knew that she had passed.

"Perfect!" Healer Bell said cheerfully, "I'll go get the paperwork."

As she left the room, Lily found herself pulled into James' arms as he placed a soft kiss on her lips, "We get to go home, Lils!"

She smiled back, but her smile quickly fell. She pulled away, "Wait. Where are we going to go?"

"H-" he cut himself off, coming to the same conclusion that she had, "Oh."

Her eyes flickered over to Harry, noticing a curious look on his face, so she took a seat next to him. They still had a lot to explain to him, "When we were attacked," she told him gently, "our home was destroyed. I highly doubt that they fixed it."

James nodded. His eyebrows were furrowed in thought. Then, after a moment, he spoke up, "We can stay at Potter Manor. Just until we get back on our feet."

"Your parents' home?" Lily asked in surprise, "I didn't think you ever would have wanted to go there. Are you sure?"

He shrugged. Pain flickered in his eyes, but he refused to show it in his face, "It's the best place to go. The wards are excellent and there is plenty of space. Mum and dad left it to me in their will, anyway."

She knew he was right, but she also knew that James hadn't been there since his parents had died.

"It will only be until we are back on our feet," she repeated his words, nodding lightly.

Harry still seemed confused, but he didn't ask a question. Lily knew that it would take time to break him out of that.

The door opened, and Healer Bell reappeared, but she wasn't alone. A tall, blonde haired woman stood in the doorway, impeccable robes shining with importance. James stood up, frowning at the unfamiliar figure and unconsciously stepping in front of his wife and son.

"Hello?"

Healer Bell spoke up before the other woman could, "Ms. Ainsworth is here to talk to you about Sirius Black's case before you leave."

Lily's back straightened up at that and James relaxed.

Ainsworth nodded, "I am representing Mr. Black in his trial next week. I need to confirm some details that Mr. Black shared with me."

"Of course," James responded eagerly, "How is he?"

Lily's eyes flickered over to Harry. He looked overwhelmingly confused. They had not told him about Sirius yet. She wasn't sure how to do so. The situation was not something that she wanted her son to know about, but she also knew that she couldn't lie to him.

"Mr. Black is recovering as well. While I will not lie to you and tell you that he is fine, he is recovering much faster than anyone expected after spending seven years in Azkaban," Ainsworth explained, "He was confused and rather out of the loop when he first came to. He did not believe me at first that you were alive but has since accepted it."

James sat down, "No one told him?"

"It appears that way," Ainsworth said with a short nod, "However, we need to discuss some details that he informed me of. If you can confirm them, then I believe that we will have a solid enough case to get him out immediately."

James didn't respond, too horrified by the revelation that his best mate had thought he was dead for seven years. Lily spoke up for him, "What did he say?"

Ainsworth nodded sharply. She glanced behind her to make sure that Healer Bell had left, and that the door was closed and then waved her wand, casting a silencing charm around them.

"According to Mr. Black, Peter Pettigrew was an Animagus," she explained, "He also informed me that he is one as well, and so are, but that is a detail that we do not need to bring up in the trial."

Lily had tensed when she had mentioned that James was an Animagus, knowing that it was an offense worth jail time if he was caught. However, she relaxed at her words.

James nodded hesitantly, "Yeah, that's correct."

Ainsworth hummed in thought at that, "Was he also correct in saying that Pettigrew's Animagus form was a rat?"

He nodded again, bitterly, "Yeah, he was. We should have realized that sooner."

She smiled this time, "Mr. Black informed me of an interesting narrative that, with your confirmation, will definitely free him. It seems that Mr. Black is completely innocent."

"What?" James said, eyes brightening, "He's innocent of everything? Even the muggles?"

She nodded, "According to him, Mr. Black approached Pettigrew in the streets in an attempt to kill him for betraying you, but Pettigrew outsmarted him. He shouted that Sirius was the one to betray you, blew up the street, and disappeared down the sewer as a rat."

Conflicting emotions rang within her. On one hand, this meant that Sirius was completely innocent and if they could prove it, the Ministry had no choice but to free him instantly.

On the other, it also meant that Pettigrew was alive and out there still.

"He outsmarted him," James whispered in disbelief, "Peter?"

"He outsmarted us, too," Lily told him sadly, "We never expected him to be a traitor."

Ainsworth was silent for a moment. Her eyes flickered over to where Harry was glancing back and forth to both of his parents, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Then, after a moment, she said, "It does no use to regret the past. You must look forward to the future. There is too much to do to be caught up in the past. Now, would you be willing to act as witnesses in the trial."

"Of course," James said. Lily smiled at him as he continued, "I'll do anything to get Sirius out."

* * *

Harry was… confused.

James and Lily had tried to explain to him what was going on, but he knew he was missing a large portion of the story, mainly referring to whoever this Sirius person was and why he was in prison.

They had told him that he was allowed to ask questions, but he didn't want to give them any reason to send him back to the Dursley's. He liked them. They were nice, but he also knew that Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon told him that they were drunkards, and very mean. He didn't know what to believe yet.

All he knew was that the woman had left shortly after arriving, promising to keep them updated, and then Healer Bell had given his parents papers to sign.

Then, they left.

Harry had tried to hold the bag of clothes, but his father had quickly scooped it up as they walked.

"Okay. Normally, we would apparate there," James told Harry as they walked, "But we don't have our wands yet. We'll have to floo."

He didn't know what either of those were, but he nodded anyway.

He followed them through the halls, trailing just behind them. He ducked his head as several patients stared at him. He still didn't understand why everyone was staring at him.

"Right over here, Harry," Lily placed a hand on his back, eyes flickering over to a nearby elderly man who was peering at them from his hospital room. She pushed Harry protectively in front of her.

They stepped into an empty room with a large fireplace on one wall. A basin of green powder sat on a table next to it. James nodded at a Healer, who stepped in front of the door and closed it, making sure no one followed them, before he gestured to the fireplace.

"Okay, Lily, you go first. Then you, Harry. I'll take up the rear."

Harry watched as his mother grabbed a handful of the powder and stepped into the fireplace, which Harry found odd. He gazed at her inquisitively, head tilted slightly. She spoke up, explaining the process to Harry, "I'm going to shout the address and it is going to take me there. It will look a little scary, but it doesn't even hurt. Okay?"

He nodded, and she shouted, "Potter Manor!"

She threw the powder down as she spoke, and Harry jumped back as the green flames roared up, enveloping her.

And then she was gone.

He turned his head to his father in alarm, but he just smiled, "She's fine. She's at the Manor now. Your turn."

His hands shook as he grabbed a handful of the powder and climbed into the fireplace, eyes twitching nervously around the room, unsure.

"Okay," James said with a grin, "Now, just throw it down and shout 'Potter Manor.' You'll arrive in the living room of our home. Your mother will be there to catch you."

He nodded lightly. A part of him wanted to refuse, to run off and hide in the hospital, instead of enveloping himself in fire, but he also didn't want to make his father mad.

He'd done worse.

He took a slow, deep breath and then threw the powder down, "Potter Manor!"

The flames rose up and enveloped him, tickling his skin. He clamped his mouth shut as soot threatened to choke him. His body jerked as he was forced away from St. Mungo's.

He tripped out of a new fireplace.

Warm arms caught him before he stumbled onto the floor. He coughed out soot and clutched onto robes to try to keep his balance.

"Breathe, Harry," a warm voice said, laughing lightly, "First time flooing is never fun."

He opened his eyes after a moment and found himself in his mother's arms for the first time. He pulled away quickly. Aunt Petunia would kill him.

Lily seemed almost disappointed by this, but she forced a smile on her face, "Welcome home, Harry."

His eyes trailed across the living room. It was big, much bigger than the Dursley's living room. The floor was wooden and dirty, and the walls were painted a light tan color, leading up towards a tall ceiling. A large, brown couch was in front of the fireplace, and it was covered in a thin layer of dust, as was the coffee table in front of it. There were no lights on, but a big window nearby kept the room well-lit. It was dirty, though. He would probably have to clean it. There wasn't a television or any kind of electric device, but there was a big bookshelf that covered the entire span of one off the walls, filled to the brim with books.

"We'll have to do some cleaning. This place has been empty for years," Lily said, pulling Harry away from the fireplace right as James tumbled through.

The man blinked at the place. He closed his eyes, a broken expression crossing his face, and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, he forced a smile on his face, "How about we give you the tour, Harry?"

"That sounds nice," Lily agreed with a smile. Harry watched in fascination as she grabbed James' hand and squeezed it lightly, comforting him silently.

Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon never did that.

James gestured Harry to follow him with his free hand, "Okay, so this is the living room, and the kitchen is right over here," he said, gesturing to a nearby door and lead him to it.

The kitchen was much bigger than he expected, with tons of marble counter space. Clean, it would be absolutely beautiful, but it was filthy.

His parents continued, moving away from the kitchen, "There's a bathroom right here," James gestured to a nearby door, "And there's a cupboard. Behind this door leads to the cellar. Oh, and right here," he stopped at a spot at the large bookcase on the wall.

His fingers trailed along the books until he found an old, fraying red one. He smiled to himself and pulled on it, but instead of coming off the shelf, a large rectangular portion of the shelf suddenly glowed. Harry stepped back, but Lily put a hand on his shoulder, smiling reassuringly at him as a large door appeared. James opened it slowly, then spoke in a clear, crisp voice, "De Lumina."

At his words, several candles positioned in various places, some of them floating, suddenly lit and illuminated the room. Harry blinked in surprise.

The room was a large library. The ceiling was at least two stories high and curved up at the top. Three out of four of the walls were filled with shelves. There was a tall ladder against the wall where someone could climb to get a book and there were three armchairs and a small couch on the ground where people could read. A desk was pushed up against the wall, and Harry noticed a piece of parchment and a tin of ink sitting on it, a quill laying forgotten beside them.

James seemed to notice as well, but he quickly looked away.

"This was my dad's favorite place in the house," he said with a light smile, backing away and closing the door, "There's hundreds of books in there. He had a huge collection."

"How about we show Harry the bedrooms?" Lily suggested after a moment of silence.

James nodded in agreement and smiled. As they moved away from the bookshelf, Harry glanced behind them. The door glowed again, and then disappeared.

Like magic.

"My great-great-grandfather built this place," James explained as he guided them up a set of stairs, "He built quite a bit of secret passageways through it. He liked to say that it was for safety reasons, so that his family could hide if they were ever attacked, but I'm pretty sure it was just because it was cool."

The top of the steps opened up into a loft area, where some armchairs had been set up around a coffee table. There was a door off the loft that his father said was another bathroom, and then they went down a hallway lined with portraits of people that he didn't know.

But they were moving. And talking.

He found himself staring at one picture of a middle-aged woman, dressed in fancy robes and black hair falling down her shoulders in soft ringlets. Her grey eyes peered down at him as he stared up at her in fascination, "And who are you?"

He blinked, surprised that she was talking to him, "Uh, Harry Potter."

"Potter, you say," the woman said, "Hmph. I thought the Potters had abandoned this place."

"Aunt Dorea!"

Harry glanced back as James approached the portrait, a nervous smile on his face.

The woman's face softened, "James, dear. You're all grown up now, aren't you?"

"Time does that," he said with a smile, "Meet my son, Aunt Dorea. Harry, this was my Great Aunt. She was married to my Great Uncle Charlus. You would have liked them."

"It's been a while since you've been here," Dorea said with a frown, "This place has just been collecting dust."

James took a deep breath. Harry glanced up at him, watching as Lily placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently, "I know," James said after a moment of pause, "I just couldn't come back after my parents died. It was too hard. We need somewhere to stay now, though."

The portrait nodded sharply and smiled at him, "Well, it is good to see you," she said, before looking back down at Harry, "I hope you're not as big of a troublemaker as your father was."

"Aunt Dorea!" James exclaimed, laughing, "Now, we don't need to be filling my son's head up with false stories of my childhood."

"False?" Lily snickered.

"Okay, okay," James held up his hands in surrender, "Stretched truth."

Harry found himself holding back laughter. A smile painted across his face despite his best wishes. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon would be furious to see him like this, but he couldn't stop himself.

James and Lily didn't seem to mind.

"Oh really?" Lily smirked.

Dorea laughed, "I'm pretty sure you broke a record for detentions at Hogwarts."

"In our fifth year," James piped up proudly before quickly saying, "Okay, okay. I get it. Harry's a good kid, though. I don't think he'll have many problems."

He was a good kid.

He beamed to himself, quickly looking down at the floor to hide his smile from his parents.

"Okay, well we need to continue on with the tour," Lily said with a smile, placing a hand on Harry's back, "We'll fill you in on what has been going on later, Dorea."

"Please do."

Lily led him away from the portrait and down the hall to a nearby door. She opened it up, "Okay, now this is the master bedroom, where James and I will sleep," she said, "If you need anything, just come get us. Uh, but knock first."

James snickered behind them, but Harry just nodded. He wasn't even allowed to go near his Aunt and Uncle's room when he was at the Dursley's. He knew he wouldn't ever bother them, but it was nice to have the offer on the table.

"Okay, across the hall here is your room."

His father crossed the hall and opened a door to a big room with red and gold painted walls. Harry, surprised by his words, peered inside. There was a bed pushed into a corner of the room with a black comforter covered in golden flying balls that his father had called Snitches. A large, wooden wardrobe was on the opposite side of the room and an armchair was in another corner. There was a door on one end that James informed him led to another bathroom and a small cupboard nearby. The floors were wooden, and the ceiling was bewitched to show a clear, night sky. Posters of men and women riding broomsticks and wearing fancy robes covered the walls.

"This used to be my bedroom," James said with a fond smile, "Tomorrow, we'll go buy some stuff so that you can decorate it exactly how you want."

Harry blinked. His eyes flickered up to his dad again and he couldn't help the question that left his lips, "This is _my_ room?"

He could have cursed himself for speaking out of turn, but James just smiled, "Of course it is. I know it's a little messy right now, but once it's clean and once you've decorated it how you want to, it'll be all yours."

He hesitated for a moment, but then he took a risk. Warily, he turned and wrapped his arms around his dad. His body was tense with worry but when James did not push him away, but instead wrapped his own arms around him, he relaxed.

"Thank you," he whispered into the fabric of his father's robes.

"You're welcome, Harry," James responded, smiling widely.

Lily got down on her knees beside them to join the hug. She pressed a gentle kiss to Harry's temple and then whispered softly into his ear.

"You're home now, Harry."

She was right. He was home.

* * *

 **AN: Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Leave me a review and let me know what you think!**

 **EDIT: I fixed a small continuity error that someone pointed out to me.**

 **Next chapter (Sunday, January 27th): Harry spends the day in his home, but finds that it's not easy adjusting to a new set of rules. James offers Remus something that he can't refuse. The Daily Prophet picks up on the upcoming trial.**


	9. Chapter 9

Lily had been an early riser ever since she was a kid.

That hadn't changed when they had gone into hiding, and it still hadn't changed after being in the hospital for three days. By the time sunlight trickled in through the curtains, Lily was already pushing herself out of the bed, careful not to wake up James as he snored next to her.

After freshening up in the bathroom with some supplies that Healer Bell had given her before they left, she made her way downstairs, the library on her mind. It felt like forever since she had a good book in her hand.

Her attention shifted, however, when she got down the steps and heard the sound of cabinet doors opening and closing in the kitchen.

She tensed at the noise, but quickly relaxed, the logical part of her brain kicking in.

"Harry?" she spoke up as she swung the kitchen door open, "What are you doing up so early?"

The child jumped and quickly shut the cabinet that he was peering into, spinning around to stare up at her with wide, green eyes.

"Sorry!" he exclaimed quickly, "I was trying to cook breakfast but there isn't any food."

"Cook?" Lily blinked slightly at his words, thrown off, "Oh, Harry, you don't have to cook. We're going to go out to get breakfast today before we go to Diagon Alley. We haven't bought groceries yet. That's why your father got pizza last night."

Harry's eyes flickered to the empty pizza box on the table. His eyebrows furrowed, "But it's my job to cook breakfast."

"It's your-" she cut herself off and took a deep breath, shaking her head. Oh, she couldn't wait to talk to Petunia. She kneeled down in front of her son and looked him in the eyes, green eyes to green eyes, "Harry, it's not your job to cook. Not here, okay? Your father and I cook. What other jobs did you have at the Dursley's?"

The boy squirmed lightly and looked away, staring down at his feet. He shrugged lightly, "It depended on the day of the week."

"Okay," Lily said, pinching the bridge of her nose. A part of her didn't want to know, but she also knew that she needed to know what he was used to in order to help him, "What would you do today if you were still there?"

He licked his lips nervously and then spoke in monotone, as if reading a list, "In the morning, I cook breakfast, make the beds, make Dudley's lunch, and do the dishes. After school, I do Dudley's homework, clean the bathroom, do laundry, tend the garden, tidy up Dudley's toys, wash the windows, water the plants inside, and cook dinner before Uncle Vernon gets home from work. After dinner, I wash dishes and clean the kitchen."

Fury blossomed in her chest, but she pushed it down, forcing herself from not leaving and apparating the Privet Drive right at that moment to curse Petunia and Vernon into oblivion. She needed to focus on Harry at the moment.

"What happened if you didn't finish in time?"

A fearful look crossed Harry's face but he answered, "Uncle Vernon would get really mad. He'd beat me and send me to my cupboard for the rest of the night."

"Oh, Harry," Lily said, brushing a tear away and placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "What do you mean your cupboard?"

"That's where I slept."

Never before did Lily think that there would be someone on this planet that she would hate as much as Voldemort.

"You don't have to worry about that here," she told him firmly, shaking her head, "You never should have done so many chores, and they definitely never should have hurt you. You will have chores here but not that many and if you want to cook, make sure to do it with either James or me, okay? And we will never lay a hand on you for anything."

Harry looked skeptical. He opened his mouth, then slammed it shut.

"You can ask questions, Harry."

A relieved, but worried expression flooded over Harry's face, "How will I be punished for being bad, then?"

He refused to look at her eyes still. He looked back down at his feet and waited stiffly for her answer.

Lily took a deep breath. She pushed her red hair out of her face and sighed lightly, "You may have to go to bed early," she explained slowly, "Or privileges could be taken away."

His eyebrows furrowed again, and he looked up this time, surprised, "Really?"

She nodded firmly, "We will not hurt you. No one should ever hurt you. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

She wasn't sure he did yet, but she smiled lightly anyway.

With time, he would trust her. With time, they could be a family again.

* * *

Harry ended up spending half an hour in the library with his mum. She gave him a book about Wizarding fairy tales and he settled in on one of the chairs to read it until his father woke up.

When James did wake up, he had to floo to a place called Hogwarts. He hadn't looked very happy when he left, but he was smiling brightly when he returned, clutching a stick to his hand and handing Lily her own.

"Our wands!" Lily said cheerfully. She took the wand in her hand and waved it lightly. Harry jumped as bright red sparks left the end of it, "Dumbledore had it?"

James nodded and pocketed his wand, "He kept them safe."

"That's one thing he kept safe," Lily's voice dropped lightly, a tinge of bitterness to it.

Harry had a feeling that she was talking about him.

"Are you ready to go, Harry?" James asked him, quickly changing the subject, "I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

He nodded and smiled lightly, "Me too."

"How about we eat at the Leaky Cauldron?" Lily suggested as she walked to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of floo powder, "We can eat there and then go into the Alley."

James nodded at the suggestion, "That sounds like a plan," he said, glancing over at Harry, "What do you think?"

Harry had never heard of the Leaky Cauldron. It sounded like a freakish place that Aunt Petunia would have a heart attack just being near. She was always particularly picky about the places that she went inside of. In the rare times that Harry was allowed to go with them somewhere, she would grab onto his arm tightly before they reached a particular place and move across the street, glaring at the building, usually because the place looked unkempt or had a homeless person standing outside of it or had a freaky name.

"That sounds nice," he answered, because it did. He always wanted to go to those places that his aunt never let him near.

"Splendid!" James said in a mock posh voice as Lily flooed away, "Let us be on our way, then. Just say 'Leaky Cauldron'."

Now that he had done it before, he wasn't as nervous. He took a handful of the powder and climbed into the fireplace before shouting the location and throwing down the powder, quickly clamping his mouth shut to avoid soot getting in it again.

He tumbled out of the fireplace in a new location. Lily caught him again and he wasn't as surprised at the sudden touch as he had been the first time.

The Leaky Cauldron was a dim building, with a bar and several tables tucked into the shadows. An elderly, bald man was behind the bar and a few other people were seated at the tables, with more than one having turned to look at them.

He ducked his head insecurely as he noticed they were being watched. James stepped out of the fireplace after him.

"Ah, this place hasn't aged a day," James said cheerily, pointedly ignoring the stared coming their way. He gestured for Harry to follow him and Lily up to the bar, "Tom!"

The man looked up from the bar. A surprised look crossed his face, but it was covered by a smile, "Mr. and Mrs. Potter. I never thought I'd see the day. And is this- Is this Mr. Harry Potter? My, welcome back. Welcome back."

"Can we get a table, Tom?" Lily asked, eyes flickering around at those staring nervously, "We'd like to have some breakfast before heading into the Alley."

"Certainly! Certainly," the man said, gesturing to a few nearby tables, "Take your pick. I'll be with you in a moment."

* * *

Harry was sure that someone would come up to them a few times during their meal, but Tom continually redirected them away. Harry wondered if they knew his parents. They must, if they were so eager to see them.

He ate his pancakes in only a few minutes. He had been pleasantly surprised to have been allowed to pick what to eat, and then had quickly eaten it in case they changed their mind. He took a little more time drinking his pumpkin juice and put off drinking his nutrition potion until the last minute.

By the time he drank the potion, he was absolutely full, and both of his parents had finished eating.

He followed his parents over to a nearby wall and watched with curiosity as Lily pulled out her wand and touched a few of the bricks on the wall. He pondered the peculiar actions with a furrowed brow, but his eyes widened in amazement as the wall opened up and his parents ushered him into a colorful alleyway.

He almost couldn't walk but forced himself to do so lest his parents get angry. Lily grabbed his hand to pull him through the hustle and bustle of what seemed like hundreds of witches and wizards. Everyone was dressed in robes and some were wearing weird pointed hats. Most of them didn't even blink an eye at them, seemingly used to people walking out of a wall. Some, however, had turned to stare at the small family, causing Harry to move a little closer to Lily.

The shops were what really caught his eye. They were a variety of sizes and colors and had the most peculiar objects in the windows. Harry saw one shop with several cauldrons lined up on the window, and another was proudly displaying several broomsticks. There were quills, rolls of parchment, spell books, weird food, robes, and vials of substances that he didn't even want to think about. He even saw one shop with several cages in front that contained owls.

"Come on, Harry," Lily said, smiling to herself as they pushed their way through the crowd, "We need to stop by Gringotts before we can shop."

Harry didn't know what Gringotts was.

He learned soon enough.

After walking only a short distance, a huge building became visible, white as snow with a set of stairs leading up to double doors where a horrifying creature stood, dressed in a scarlet and gold uniform.

"That's a goblin," Lily told him softly, noticing the look of uncertainty cross his face as he stared at the creature, "As long as you don't try to steal anything, he won't hurt you."

The goblin nodded at them as they entered, and Harry found himself hurrying beside Lily to get away from him as quick as possible.

Of course, there were more inside.

He pointedly looked away from the creatures and followed his parents as they walked down the long row of goblins. He stared at the floor and kept a firm grip on his mother's hand.

"We would like to go to our vault, please."

Harry looked up as his father began to speak and found that they were standing in front of another goblin. He moved closer to his mother and forced himself not to look away this time. The goblin in front of them looked just as bit as scary at the others, but there was something about him that didn't seem as intimidating.

"Do you have your wand for verification?" the goblin asked in a high, shrill voice.

James pulled out his wand and handed it over to the goblin, who scanned it over once before nodding, "You don't have your key," the goblin spoke, "Am I correct?"

His father looked surprised, "Yes, you are."

The goblin nodded, "It was brought to us after the attack for safe-keeping. Follow me. You will have to perform a blood test to retrieve it."

As they walked, Lily whispered to him, "That is Gornuk. He has handled the Potter vault for dozens of years. He'll give us our key and then we can go to our fault and get money from it."

Harry nodded as she spoke, feeling a little braver now around the goblins.

They entered a small room that had black boxes lining the wall. Gornuk lead them towards one labeled, "687."

"You need to put a drop of blood on the top of it. If you are a Potter, then it will disintegrate, and you can have your key."

Harry didn't like that one bit. He took a step back, but Lily put a hand on his shoulder, "Relax, Harry. It's okay. James is going to do it."

His father didn't even hesitate as he pulled out his wand and muttered a soft spell, pointing the wand to his left index finger. A small cut appeared on the top of his finger and he squeezed out a small drop of blood, letting it fall on the box.

Just as Gornuk said, the box slowly disintegrated. It was hollow on the inside, Harry realized, and a small gold key was left on the table where the box had been.

James whispered another spell under his breath and the small cut on his finger healed.

"Whoa," Harry found himself saying to himself, causing James to laugh.

The man grabbed the key and then turned to Gornuk, "Can you take us to our vault now?"

"Certainly," the goblin responded.

To get to the vault, they had to take a mine cart, which Harry thought was absolutely brilliant and loads of fun. He stared as they passed vault after vault after vault, going deeper and deeper underground. Lily had a hand on his shoulder, as if afraid that he would fly from the cart, and James laughed beside him.

When they reached their vault, James opened it, and Harry felt his mouth fell open in surprise.

There were heaps and piles of what looked like gold and silver, taller than him in some places, and some piles were even taller than his dad. He stared in amazement at the money. The Dursley's definitely most not have known about this.

James pulled out a small leather bag from his pocket and shoveled a few handfuls of the gold into the bag.

"These are Galleons," Lily explained to Harry, gesturing to the gold coins. She pointed to the silver piles, "And those are Sickles. Oh, and those are some Knuts over there. They're wizarding currency. One Galleon is equal to 17 Sickles and one Sickle is equal to 29 Knuts."

Harry was pretty sure that he wasn't going to be able to remember that.

"Alright," James said as he turned back to them, pocketing the money, "All set. Let's get shopping."

* * *

They shopped all day. By the time they got home, it was growing dark, and James and Lily had filled their pockets with shrunken clothes and toys and they were carrying several bags of groceries.

It didn't take them long to put everything up and by the time they did, Remus flooed into the living room. Harry jumped in surprise, having not expected the man's appearance, and found himself observing the man's apparel curiously.

The shabby robes were odd, he felt like. Mr. Remus Lupin was the only wizard he knew to dress in such shabby robes. They were like the clothes that he wore at the Dursley's, old and torn.

"Moony!" James said happily, walking over to hug his friend, "How was work?"

"It was alright," he said with a light smile, shaking his head to get the soot out, "I got your letter. How was Diagon Alley."

"Splendid," he responded, "We got ice-cream and bought tons of robes and toys. Lily wouldn't let us get a broomstick yet."

Lily shook her head, a fond smile on her face, "There are tons of broomsticks here."

"Yeah. Old ones," James pouted childishly, but Harry could tell that he was just joking.

Remus just grinned and turned to Harry, "How are you doing, Harry? Did you enjoy Diagon Alley?"

He nodded quietly and smiled at the man, "I did. It was tons of fun!"

Harry's eyes flickered to Mr. Remus Lupin's hand, noticing that he was carrying a newspaper. James seemed to notice it at the same time, "What you got there?"

Remus lifted up the newspaper. Harry found himself looking at the front page, where big letters read out, "Is Sirius Black Innocent or are the Potter's confunded?"

"Confunded?" James asked, taking the newspaper into his hands and skimming the front page. His face twisted in the familiar expression of anger and Harry found himself tensing, "Are they out of their mind?"

"It's the Daily Prophet," Remus said, as if that explained everything, "They love to stir up drama. Besides, most of the details haven't been leaked yet. All anyone knows is that you are claiming that he is innocent."

"Because he is," James said, clenching the paper, "This is b-"

"James!" Lily admonished, cutting him off.

Harry found him looking back and forth between his parents and Remus, completely confused by what was going on and more than a little scared. James was angry, he could tell, and he was also angry about something that Harry had absolutely no clue about.

"Sorry," James said with a huff, eyes flickering down to Harry, "This is ridiculous. They're just making things worse for Padfoot."

Remus sighed and nodded lightly, taking a seat nearby, "I know, but we can't do anything about that now. We just have to prepare for the trial."

There was a beat of silence before Harry spoke up, unable to keep the question to himself any longer. They had said that he was allowed to ask questions, anyway, "Who is Sirius Black?"

James jumped and turned to Harry, surprised, "Did I not- Merlin, I didn't. Sirius is my best mate. He's your godfather. He was arrested or something that he didn't do, though, so we are trying to get him out of prison."

Harry blinked blankly at that, "Prison?"

His mother nodded as she walked over, "He's innocent," she assured him, "When we were hurt, no one was there to prove that he was innocent, though. They thought that he betrayed us and that he killed a lot of people, but it was someone else."

"You'll like him," James said with a smile, "He's great. He adored you when you were a baby and was always coming over to spend time with you. He even bought you your first broom."

Harry wasn't sure what he thought of that. The fact that there were three adults that cared about him had already seemed like a miracle. Now, there was another one?

It seemed like a dream.

There was a beat before Remus spoke up again, "James, in your letter, you said that you needed to talk to me."

James' eyes lit up and he stood up straight, "Oh! Right! How would you like to move in?"

There was a long pause. Harry looked back and forth from Remus to James.

"Move in?"

"Yeah," James said happily, "We've got tons of room here and Harry loves you. Besides, I feel like we never got to see each other before… everything happened. It'd be nice to be able to send more time with you."

Remus shook his head, but something told Harry that he wasn't necessarily saying no, "What about my-"

James interrupted him before he could finish, "We've got the cellar. We could ward it up and you'll be good to go."

Harry felt like he was being left out of another secret. He didn't ask this time, though. He'd already asked enough questions in one day. Surely, they would get mad if he asked another.

Remus sighed, frowning, "You're doing this out of pity, aren't you?"

"Of course not!" James said, crossing his arms over his chest and arching an eyebrow, "Just because I want you to be living better doesn't mean I don't also want you to live here for other reasons. Namely, you're one of my best mates. If you live here, you'll have your own room, and you can still work at your library without a problem. Besides, I'm going to need your help with Sirius."

For a minute, Harry was sure that Remus would refuse. Then, however, the man just smiled and nodded softly, "I'd like that."

Harry found himself smiling as well.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thanks for reading, everyone! I'd love to hear what you guys have to say so leave a review. Particularly, what do you hope James and Lily do when they meet the Dursley's, which will be coming up soon.**

 **Next chapter (Sunday, February 3rd): The Potters and Remus go to Sirius' trial and fight against a Wizarding World desperate to believe that everything can stay in the past.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Warnings: This chapter includes discussions of murder and violence.**

* * *

The Great Hall was ablaze with excitement as Charlie Weasley entered. He was later than usual getting to breakfast, having waited for Tonks outside the Hufflepuff common room for half an hour before remembering where she was. She had told him about how her mother wanted her to come to Sirius Black's trial, due to their relation. Tonks wasn't very happy about it. She had expressed her nervousness to Charlie that people would connect her to the famed mass murderer, and she had made him promise not to tell anyone where she was.

So, that morning found him walking to breakfast alone, coming up with some excuse off the top of his head as to why he was doing so for the first time since he had met Tonks on the first day of Potions.

"Charlie, where's your girlfriend?"

Bill Weasley, seventh year Gryffindor and Head Boy, had appeared by him right as he entered, slinging an arm over his shoulder and smirking teasingly at him.

"Oi. I told you a million times. She's not my girlfriend," Charlie said, blushing lightly and shaking his head. He had never thought of her in that way. He had never thought of anybody in that way, "She's ill. Madam Pomfrey has her cooped up in the Hospital Wing."

"Ah, that's a shame," Bill said, shaking his head. He grabbed Charlie's arm, though, and began to drag him towards where their younger brother, Percy, was seated at the table, buried in a book, "Have you heard from dad yet?"

Percy looked up curiously. Charlie took a seat beside the second year, noticing Scabbers slumbering in his lap.

"About what?" Percy asked, curious.

Charlie wondered if he had missed the mail coming in, since his letter from his parents the day before had not mentioned anything significant, but he was almost immediately reassured when owls suddenly began flying overhead. Bill ducked his head closer to them to talk to over the sound.

"Dad told me yesterday in his letter. I've been asking him a lot about Sirius Black lately, but he hasn't been giving me many answers. However, he let me know yesterday that he is going to be testifying at Sirius Black's trial today."

Movement on Percy's lap caught his eyes. Scabbers had woken up as Bill was speaking and was squeaking.

"Oh, quiet, Scabbers," Percy admonished him before looking back up at Bill, "Why is he testifying? He didn't know him. Did he?"

Bill grinned lightly, like a child with a secret, "But he did," he said, "Mum and dad were involved in something very secretive during the war in an effort to take down You-Know-Who, and apparently so were the Potters, Black, and Pettigrew. Dad said that they weren't close, but he worked with them. Not only that, but-" he leaned in closer so that no one else could hear, "We're apparently related to him."

Charlie blinked, backing away from his brother slightly, "What?"

Scabbers was squeaking a lot now. Percy gripped the rat to keep him from running off and he was struggling in his hands, "Scabbers. Oi, calm down," Percy said, looking at Bill, "What do you mean we're related?"

"He's our third cousin, apparently. Grandmother Cedrella was a Black, though she was disowned for marrying grandfather Septimus. She had nothing to do with her family after she got married," Bill explained, "but it means that we're related to Black."

Charlie blinked. That meant that he and Tonks were related, too. He couldn't wait to tell her that.

"Is dad defending him?" Percy asked, still struggling with the squirming rat.

Bill nodded, "He thinks he's innocent. He said that he's been talking to Dumbledore a lot lately, and Dumbledore has been in contact with the Potters. Apparently, _Pettigrew_ framed Black."

Scabbers squealed loudly and then Percy let out a shout.

"He bit me!"

Charlie jumped back as the rat ran across the table and leaped off, darting out of the Great Hall.

"Wait! Scabbers! Scabbers, come back!"

Percy went chasing after the rat, clutching his bleeding hand.

Charlie glanced over at Bill, who shook his head and laughed, "Bloody rat."

* * *

Sirius was standing up and staring at himself in a mirror that had been given to him when the Aurors came.

His hair had been cut for the first time in seven years. Two feet of matted black hair had been chopped away, leaving it short and clean and soft. The dirt that had accumulated on his skin had been washed away and his beard had been shaved away. He'd been given fresh dress robes to put on.

If it had been seven years prior, he would have looked like a dashing young man, ready to charm all the girls around him. Now, however, he found himself staring at an image of a man that he didn't recognize.

Despite his clean-shaven appearance, he looked sickly. His cheeks were sunken in and his eyes looked dead. He was incredibly skinny and bony, making his robes fall off his shoulders awkwardly. When he lifted his robes up, he could see each of his ribs. His skin was pasty and pale. The confidence that he used to portray had died sometime in Azkaban and try as he might to square his shoulders and lift up his chin, it just wouldn't come back.

"Mr. Black."

He turned from the mirror, noticing the Auror that had stepped in the room. A man in his early thirties stood in the doorway, brown hair slicked back, and wand held firmly in his hand. Sirius recognized him from his time as an Auror, but he couldn't remember his name.

"Hold out your hands," the man said, "You will need magic-blocking chains put on before we go in."

Sirius grimaced, but didn't fight him on it. He knew the law and he didn't need anything else brought up against him, even if the chains were useless. He had never learned how to do any kind of wandless magic.

He held out his hands and watched as the man waved his wand and black chains twisted their way around his wrists and ankles.

"Follow me," the man spoke stiffly. He grabbed one end of the chain to be sure that Sirius wouldn't try to run, and then he led him out of his cell.

* * *

Sirius had seen the Wizengamot's court room several times. As a child, he had attended his Aunt Lycoris' trial after she murdered a muggle man who hit on her. He remembered his parents desperately trying to get her out of it, but to no avail. After the trail, when they got home, his mother sat him and Regulus down and lectured them on not getting caught.

When he had become an Auror, he often found himself in the court room, used as a witness for someone that he'd caught. Despite only being an Auror for a little over two years, he'd been there more times than he could count.

It was something that had plagued him in Azkaban, where he waited for seven years for a trial.

Now, however, that trial had finally come.

Several other Aurors met them before they entered and walked him to the middle of the Wizengemot, magically binding him to the chair. Flashes of lights nearly blinded him as people snapped photographs of him, and he found his eyes roaming the room.

He had been in lots of court cases before, but none so… big.

It felt like everyone and their mother had come. He could see the jury, and the members of the Wizengemot, and there was about the same number as he could remember, but there was also a great number of people watching, and several reporters in the front row.

His eyes darted around the room. He could see Dumbledore sitting with the members of the Wizengemot, and Amelia Bones, and Cornelius Fudge, and Dolores Umbridge. The latter was watching with her nose scrunched up, as if he was a filthy animal.

He turned his head to the crowd of people watching.

He recognized several people. There were dozens of Aurors that he had worked with, and a few that had been the ones to arrest him. Lucius Malfoy was sitting near the front, eyes hard and disdainful, but leaning forward with interest. His eyes found his cousin, Narcissa Malfoy, next to him, watching the scene with a guarded expression, but there was something behind her eyes that he was surprised so see. Was it hope? A young child sat beside her, squirming in his seat impatiently and nervously. He watched as she put a hand on his shoulder to still him.

Andromeda was there as well. His eyes found her next, sitting just far enough away from her sister that they weren't interacting at all. Her husband sat beside her, and to the side of him sat a pink-haired teenager. He knew who the girl was, but it didn't stop him from blinking in surprise. She was much older than the last time he had seen her.

Several Hogwarts professors were scattered throughout, and he kept himself from scoffing as he saw Severus Snape towards the back, watching impassively as it went on. He seemed to be staring at someone in the crowd, though, with agony in his eyes.

Sirius followed his gaze to the front of the room and felt all of the air leave his lungs.

Lily Potter was seated front and center, red hair pulled back into an elegant braid and wearing a simple, royal blue muggle dress. James Potter was near her. Sirius could tell that Lily had tried to tame his hair, but it stayed messy as always. He was dressed in a muggle suit that Sirius knew was intentional. Between them was a young boy, dressed in a suit that matched his father's and watching Sirius with curious eyes.

Next to them sat Remus, who was in nice dress robes and watching the scene sorrowfully and hopefully.

Fudge was speaking. Sirius wasn't listening, too amazed by the sight of his friends, alive and whole, to pay attention to anything else.

"Mr. Black."

His head snapped to Fudge at the sound of his name spoken sharply.

"You are being convicted of 13 counts of murder, giving information about the Potter's whereabouts which lead to their attack, and service to the Dark Lord. What do you plead?"

"Innocent," he spoke out harshly, the sound scraping his mind. He'd used that word for so long to stay sane, "I'm innocent."

* * *

James Potter had known that Sirius would have changed in the seven years that he had been in Azkaban. After all, Remus had seemed to age twenty years in those seven, and Sirius had been locked away and tormented by dementors. There was no doubt that it would cause come damage.

Still, the sight of his best mate being led to the chair in chains, gaunt and subdued, was definitely one that would haunt his nightmares.

It felt like just recently that he had seen Sirius smiling and laughing, bouncing Harry up and down and cracking jokes. Now, here he was, staring at the crowd with wide, overwhelmed eyes.

James missed the first part of court, too stunned to by the sight of Sirius, but he was drawn back in when the man spoke for the first time, proclaiming his innocence and stunning the crowd.

Whispers erupted around him, but they were quickly silenced with Dumbledore held up his hand.

Harry squirmed next to James and looked up at him, whispering softly, "What's happening?"

James looked down, noticing the boy staring wide-eyed at the scene in front of him, dawning a pair of circular glasses that they had gotten for him.

He was glad that the child was asking questions, but they needed to stay as quiet as possible, per Wizengamot's rules.

"Sirius pleaded innocent. Now, they are going to question him. Then, they'll move on to witnesses," he responded, keeping it short and simple.

Ainsworth came up first, walking so that she was standing in front of Sirius, just out of his reach if he was free, per Wizengemot rules.

"Mr. Black," she said with a light nod to him, "I'm going to ask you a series of yes or no questions. Please limit your responses to yes or no for now. You will be permitted time later to explain. Now, where you the Potter's secret keeper?"

"No."

A flurry of whispers erupted, but they were quickly silenced.

"Did you and the Potters change secret keepers without anyone else knowing?"

"Yes."

"Is it correct that Peter Pettigrew was the actual secret keeper."'

"Yes."

The whispers were louder this time and took longer to diminish. People didn't seem to expect that.

"Were or are you a Death Eater?"

"No. I would never-"

Ainsworth interrupted him with another question, "Did you ever serve Lord Voldemort?"

James noticed several people nearby flinch, including several members of the jury.

"No."

"Did you approach Peter Pettigrew on a muggle street on November 1st, 1981?"

Sirius hesitated, "Yes."

"Did you cast a blasting curse on the street?"

"No."

The whispers were back. James' eyes flickered around, noticing people's eyes widening, leaning over to express their astonishment with those around them.

"Did you kill any of the twelve muggles who died?"

"No."

"Did you kill Peter Pettigrew?"

"No."

Ainsworth nodded shortly, "Okay. Now, these questions aren't yes or no. Answer these to the best of your ability. Who was the Potter's secret keeper?"

"Pettigrew," Sirius spat out.

"Who killed the Muggles?"

"Pettigrew."

"Who killed Peter Pettigrew?"

Sirius paused, eyebrows furrowed, "No one," he answered, "He didn't die."

The whispers could no longer be considered whispers. Harry jumped as a dull roar exploded from all around them, and Remus flinched at the sudden noise.

"Please stay quiet while court is in session," Dumbledore's voice was amplified, easily heard over the loud rambling.

Ainsworth waited until the courtroom fell silent again before continuing, "Can you explain how that is possible?"

Sirius swallowed an answered, "Pettigrew is an unregistered Animagus. A brown rat. He shouted that I had betrayed them, cut off his finger, blew up the street, and then escaped into the sewers."

The roar threatened to resurface but didn't as Dumbledore fixed the crowd with a sharp look. James found his eyes drawn to a nearby, red-haired man who had suddenly grown very pale. His hands had begun to shake. It took a moment for James to recognize him as Arthur Weasley, a man who had been in the Order of the Phoenix with him.

"Why did the Potter's switch secret keepers?"

"I told them to," Sirius said bitterly, "I thought it would make sense. No one would suspect Pettigrew. Everyone would suspect me."

Ainsworth nodded sharply and backed away, "I am finished with questioning Sirius Black."

A man stood up as she went and sat down. He was tall, and his brown hair was pulled back in a tight pony tail. His dress robes were impeccable, and he regarded the man in front of him for a short moment before speaking.

"Did you or did you not laugh when Aurors arrested you?"

"Well… yes- but-"

The man did not let him continue, "You laughed after twelve muggles were just murdered, and two people whom you had regarded as your best friends had been attacked and left comatose in St. Mungo's?"

"I was-"

He interrupted again, "Were you the one that the Potters approached to be the Secret Keeper?"

"Yes, but-"

"So, the Potters wanted you to be the Secret Keeper?"

"Yes, but-"

James sighed to himself as Sirius was interrupted again, fury rising in his chest.

"Were you or were you not brought up learning the Dark Arts from your parents?"

Sirius was quiet for a moment, thrown off by the question. His expression crumpled, "Yes, but I never-"

"Was your brother, Regulus Black, a Death Eater?"

Sirius sighed, looking down, "Yes."

"And your cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange?"

"Yes."

"So, it is safe to say that you grew up surrounded in the Dark Arts and people who supported the Dark Lord?"

"I suppose so."

The man smirked lightly, "It is also safe to assume that, if you were the Dark Lord's right-hand man and friends with the Potters, then you would have been able to confund the Potters before they were attacked?"

"Of course not."

"And why not?"

Sirius was silent for a moment. He was breathing heavily, eyes twitching around the room. They landed on James again and he squared his shoulders, looking back at the man, "Why would I confund them if I thought they would die? Voldemort," he spat, "didn't leave people alive."

The crowd flinched again at the sound.

The man seemed a bit thrown off guard by the response.

"I have no further questions, your honor."

* * *

Court was long. Harry didn't like it.

There must have been a dozen witnesses. At some point during the trial, both of his parents and Remus had been at the stand, answering a long list of questions that Harry felt was pointless. The three of them all said pretty much the same thing. A red-headed man gave a character witness about Sirius, claiming that he was always a hard worker and cared deeply about muggles and Muggleborns. A dark-haired woman named Andromeda discussed how Sirius was the only one in her family who did not hate her when she married a Muggleborn. A blond-haired man who introduced himself as Lucius Malfoy and sneered at Andromeda when she spoke, had testified as well, but his answers were much different than his parents, claiming Sirius to have been a bully and reckless during Hogwarts, and to have participated in the Dark Arts with his family. Aurors who said they showed up at the scene when Sirius presumably killed twelve muggles and Pettigrew stayed firm in their belief that he had been the perpetrator and that Pettigrew was dead.

Then, it got really confusing, and Harry wasn't really sure what was going on.

A woman who introduced herself as a Mind Healer took the stand, arguing that she had examined the Potters and that they hadn't been confunded and their memories hadn't been tampered with in any way (whatever that meant). Another man came in with Sirius' wand and cast a spell with it, and everyone gasped as it showed that the last spell that had been cast with it had been apparition.

That last piece of evidence seemed especially convincing. James whispered to Harry an explanation as to why.

"If the last spell that he cast was apparition," he explained quietly, "then that means that he didn't cast the blasting curse that killed the Muggles."

After what felt like forever, Fudge stood up, "Sirius Black has been charged with the murder of twelve muggles. All in favor of upholding this charge, please raise your hand."

Half a dozen hands raised, but Harry could tell that it was much less than majority.

"The charges of the murder of twelve muggles has been dropped. Sirius Black has also been charged with conspiring with You-Know-Who to kill the Potters. All in favor of upholding this charge, please raise your hand."

A few more hands raised this time, but it was still nowhere close to half.

"The charges of conspiring with You-Know-Who have been dropped. Sirius Black has also been charged in the murder of Peter Pettigrew. All in favor of upholding this charge, please raise your hand."

More hands rose than before. People seemed to be more inclined to believe that Sirius had killed him after realizing that Pettigrew had tried to have the Potters killed. This time, Harry couldn't tell if it was half or not. Fudge took a moment to count the hands.

"The charges of the murder of Peter Pettigrew has been dropped. Sirius Black has been cleared of all charges."

Harry wondered if he was hearing things, or if Fudge really did sound upset by that.

His eyes flickered over to Sirius, who seemed stun. The chains around him dissolved at the proclamation and his mouth fell open in surprise. Harry glanced at his parents, noticing that they were both grinning from ear to ear.

"We did it!" James cheered, reaching over to hug Lily, then Remus, "He's free!"

Several others had joined in on the celebration, but Harry could see others who did not seem so happy. The red-headed man who had spoken earlier looked incredibly pale, even if he had testified in Sirius' defense, and was quickly making his way over to Dumbledore. Lucius Malfoy was looked stern and angry, while his wife seemed to be hiding a smile.

His eyes flickered to the back of the room. A man with incredibly greasy hair and a hooked nose was watching them. He caught Harry's eyes and quickly looked away, standing and leaving the courtroom almost immediately.

* * *

"Sirius!"

Lily smiled as she watched James wrap his arms around Sirius as they were allowed to come up. Sirius seemed surprised for a moment, not responding, but then he returned the hug, burying his face in James' shoulder.

"James," he rasped, "Oh Merlin, you're alive."

James smiled, patting him on the back, "You can't get rid of me that easily, mate."

Remus stood to the side awkwardly, watching the reunion. Sirius looked up and gave a dopey smile, "Moony, get in here."

That was all Remus needed. He came in, wrapping his arms around both of them, "Sirius. I'm so, so, so sorry."

"Hey, don't be. It's fine. I'm free," Sirius said, smiling from ear to ear.

"I should have known," Remus shook his head, "I should have known."

Sirius pulled away and leveled a look at him, "No one did, Remus. It isn't your fault."

Remus just gave a watery smile and hugged him again.

When they pulled away, Sirius looked at Lily, "Come on, Lils. I promise I'm clean."

Lily laughed at the man. Seven years in Azkaban and he could still crack jokes. She hugged him tightly, "Glad to see you, Padfoot. James was going mad with worry."

"You too, Lils. Merlin, it feels so much longer than seven years."

Lily pulled away. She turned to Harry, noticing him slinking behind her nervously. She put her hand on his back and gently pushed him forward, "Say hello to your godfather, Harry."

Sirius flickered his eyes down to Harry. His grin seemed to widen even more. He knelt down so that he was eye level with Harry, grey eyes searching his face.

"Hello," Harry said shyly, "I'm Harry."

"I'm Sirius," he responded, "But you can call me Padfoot. Or Uncle Padfoot. Whichever you prefer," he paused for a moment, "Merlin. Last time I saw you, you could barely talk. But look at you! You're practically grown."

"Oi, not yet he's not," James said jokingly, ruffling Harry's hair, "He's still got time to grow."

Harry ducked his head lightly as James ruffled his head by reflex. Lily winced lightly, knowing why, but Sirius only grinned, "You've got that Potter hair, but your mother's eyes. I-"

"Mr. Black?"

Sirius froze in surprise, quickly standing and turning around. Amelia Bones was approaching.

"I apologize for interrupting this reunion," she said, "However, I just wanted to formally apologize for the wrongs dealt to you by the Wizengemot these past seven years. You will be compensated for your time in Azkaban."

Sirius shuffled a bit awkwardly, smiling politely, "Oh, that's not neces-"

"You will be compensated," Amelia Bones repeated sternly, leaving no room for arguments. She glanced at the adults, "Now, if you may, can you give us a full description of Pettigrew's Animagus form?"

Lily's eyes flickered down the hall, noticing Arthur Weasley in a hurried discussion with Dumbledore. His eyes flickered over to them, and there was fear in his eyes.

Amelia Bones continued to explain, "We think we may know where he is."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hope you guys enjoyed! Sorry that this is up a week late. I got super busy with school.**

 **Next chapter (Sunday, 02/17/19): Scabbers is missing, which means Pettigrew is on the run. Sirius gets settled into his new life. James and Lily discuss Harry's schooling. Harry meets a new friend during a checkup.**


End file.
